In October, the Rabee Securities Iraq Stock Exchange Index (RSISX Index) decreased by 3.4% in both USD and Iraqi Dinar terms (IQD) after four consecutive months of increases. The decrease in the RSISX index in October was primarily attributed to the decline in share prices of Iraqi for Seed Production, Commercial Bank of Iraq, Asiacell, and Bank of Baghdad, which were partially offset by the increase in share prices of Al-Mansour Hotel and National Bank of Iraq.

In the first ten months of 2023, the RSISX Index showed a notable 50.0% growth in IQD terms as a result of the upward trend in the market. In this period, RSISX Index showed a higher growth in USD terms at 73.3% with the contribution of around 10% appreciation of the local currency against USD in February 2023 (based on the change in the official FX rate according to the CBI decision to achieve price stability).

The total trading volume of the ISX increased 5% in October compared to September to USD19.8 million. The banking sector obtained the highest share in trading volume at 40.0% in October, followed by the industry sector (20.0% share), agriculture sector (13.8% share), telecom sector (12.8% share), and hotels & tourism sector (11.3% share).

Three companies decided to distribute dividends during October; Dar Al-Salam for Insurance (dividend yield: 8.1%), Al-Ahliya for Agricultural Production (dividend yield: 2.3%), and Al-Mosul for Funfairs (dividend yield: 0.6%).

24 companies’ share prices grew in October, 14 of which increased by more than 5.0%, while 11 increased by more than 10.0%. AL-Wiaam for Financial Investment witnessed the largest increase in share prices by 71.4% during the month, followed by AL-Badia for General Transportation with a 48.7% monthly increase.

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