Bagdad, Iraq: Several heavyweight listed companies helped to lift the market by 12.5% during the first six months of 2024. The Rabee Securities Iraq Stock Exchange Index (RSISX Index) increased by 12.5% mainly due to the increase in share prices of National Bank of Iraq, Bank of Baghdad, Mansour Hotel, and Commercial Bank of Iraq. The share prices of 8 out of the 10 RSISX Index companies recorded an increase.  

RSISX Total Return (RSISXTR) Index increased by 16.3%. The total trading volume of the ISX decreased 9% compared to USD243.9 million in the first six months of 2023. Excluding the cross transactions, the total trading volume almost doubled in the first six months, increasing 91% compared to the same period of the previous year to USD151.9 mn.

The banking sector obtained the highest share in trading volume at 76.1%, followed by the industry sector (12% share) and telecom sector (5.2% share).

Shwan Ibrahim Taha, founder and CEO of Rabee Securities said: “If we look at major macro developments of the first half of the year; Iraq and other OPEC+ member states decided to extend the additional voluntary cuts of 1.65 million barrels per day, in order to strengthen the precautionary efforts of OPEC+ to support the stability and balance of oil markets”.

“Iraq’s budget of $161 billion for 2024 has instilled confidence in investors, even though a significant portion will be allocated to security and defense. We believe that a budget of this size will also benefit other sectors, such as education and healthcare, enabling the private sector to secure substantial contracts, including those for infrastructure projects.”

During the first six months of the year, the share prices of 38 companies grew, with 32 of them increasing by more than 5% and 24 by more than 10%. Iraqi Islamic Bank saw the highest increase at 101.9%, followed by Mosul Dam Tourist Village with an 83.3% increase.