Fuelled by expectations of the imminent opening of the hitherto closed doors of the ISX to non Iraqi investors, the market continued its upward surge for the eleventh trade session this month

ISX, Decline halted but not reversed, October 25 2007

The steady decline in the Iraqi bourse, the Iraq Stock Exchange, seems to have stopped according to reports out of the trade hall of the exchange. The officially published ISX Price Index was still for each of the Banking, Insurance, Investment, manufacturing and agricultural index. The overall Price Index was nevertheless reported down on account of a fall in the price of Babil Hotel by some 17% from ID24 to ID20.

	current session	previous session	%change
Market Volume Traded (shares million)	657.02	514.34	27.74
Market Value Traded (ID m)	1567.03	831.00	88.57
Market Capitalization (ID billon)	1879.71	1884.65	-0.26
Number of Transaction	201	304	-33.88

Market Value Traded ($m)	1.2536	0.66480	88.57
Market Capitalization ($billon)	1.504	1.51	-0.26

The shares of thirteen listed banks were traded, out of which seven maintained previous close prices, one actually went up and five lost marginally. Total trade volume was equal to a respectable ID1.452 billion or the equivalent of $1.1 million. The bulk of this value, 63%, was accounted for in trade in the shares of the North Bank. Some 255 million shares exchanged hands, at a total value of ID0.92 billion, in five contracts struck at a price of ID3.6 per share which is up on previous session by about 5%. One contract, no doubt pre-arranged outside the trade hall, involved the exchange of ownership of 230 million shares in this stock. The transaction was executed through what is termed in locally as ‘special order’ whereby the whole block is offered on the basis of fixed price and all or none basis.

Also noticeable is the absence of trade in the shares of the Baghdad Bank. According to brokers inside the trade hall there was no match between bids and offers. The shares of the bank were on offer in small quantities at ID 2.9 but bids in large amounts were below this price.

There was some significant level of activity in the trade of each of the Iraq Investment bank and the Middle East Investment Bank. There were 30 contracts involving the exchange of 83 million shares in the former. The stock maintained previous close at ID1.25 per share. Fewer than 53 million shares of the Middle East Bank, on the other hand, exchanged hands in 22 contracts and the stock also maintained previous close at ID2.4 at the close of the trade session.

Losers among banks were each of the Commercial Bank of Iraq, 3%, Sumer Bank, 5%, Mosul Bank 4%, Credit Bank, 1% and Babil Bank 4%. The total capitalization value of the whole banking sector was slightly down by 0.2% from $1.102 billion to 1.10 billion. Such a decline is insignificant by ISX standards.

The ISX also reports that foreign investors were involved in trade worth ID 183 million or $138,000. Shares of Middle East Bank, the Ahli Bank, Warkaa Bank, and Kurdistan Bank among others were involved in this trade. The ISX opened its doors for foreign investors on August 01 2007.

DISCLAIMER: This document has been compiled and issued by Kubba Consultants, which has obtained the information from sources it believes to be reliable, but Kubba Consultants makes no guarantee as to either its accuracy or completeness and has not carried out an independent verification. Kubba Consultants accepts no responsibility or liability for losses or damages incurred as a result of opinions formed and decisions made based on information presented in this report. This document is not an offer to sell or solicitation to buy any securities. The opinions and estimates expressed herein are those of the issuer.