Kuwaiti traders are in good spirits

The exchange reopened on Saturday for the first time since trade was suspended at the start of war on 20 March.

On Sunday the KSE gained 70.9 points to close at 2,825.6, trumping the previous high of 2,823.4 on 1 November 1997.

The Kuwaiti gains come as world share markets continue to slide over worries about the war.

The KSE rallied in the weeks before the war on the expectation of a swift and decisive US-led war.

An Iraq missile strike on a Kuwaiti mall gave investors a scare on Saturday, but the installation of new anti-missile batteries reassured the markets.

Military contracts

About 16 Iraqi missiles have struck Kuwait since the start of the war, but few have caused any damage.

The large US and British military presence in Kuwait has buoyed the market after a number of listed companies signed contracts with them.

The expectation of a speedy resumption of trade with Iraq after the war, suspended since the Gulf War in 1990, has also supported the market.

The index has now gained 18.9% this year to give it a market capitalisation of 11.3bn dinars (�24bn; $37.8bn).

The KSE, the second largest stock exchange in the Arab world by capitalisation after Saudi Arabia, last year gained 39%.

The exchange has 96 listed companies.