KSE ends trade on drop to 6,417.7 points

23/02/2011 00:00 AST

The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended Tuesday trade on a decline of 8.3 points to 6,417.7 points in the price index and weighted index increased 3.28 points, reaching 448.6.

The trading session saw exchange of 135.5 million shares worth some 21.6 million Kuwaiti dinars, changing hands in 2,580 spot transactions.

Seven out of eight sectors indices ended in red.

Top gainer of the day is Ajwan Gulf Real Estate.

Top Volume stock is National Ranges Company.

The KSE price index was red at 9:27 am Tuesday coming to 6,398.1 points with a loss of 27.9 points, while the weighted index came to 443.92 points with a drop of 1.4 points.

Trades came to 556 transactions worth four million Kuwaiti dinars with volume of 29.8 million shares traded till that time.

The KSE price index went down 23.1 points by 11:40 am Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the weighted index dropped 1.92 points to reach the 443.4 level. Volume came to 77 million shares by that time, traded in 1,452 transactions worth about KD 10 million.

Kuwait's Zain rose 3.1 percent after a local newspaper report said new potential bidders have emerged for the telecoms operator's stake in its Saudi unit.

In other news, Dubai's index slumped to a six-month low and Qatar's benchmark saw its largest drop in nine months on Tuesday as regional turmoil spurred further selling and rendered technical support levels obsolete.

Foreign investors are dumping Middle East stocks and many local investors are trying to beat them to the punch, exacerbating declines, traders said.

"As the populace throughout the region attempts to take on ever more tyrannical regimes, we will be faced with increasingly violent protest and consequently greater uncertainty," said Julian Bruce, EFG-Hermes director of institutional equity sales.

"This will manifest itself in higher oil prices and, paradoxically, weaker Middle East and North Africa (MENA) equity markets."

"There is little to no chance of the region regaining the status quo (of) the beginning of the year, so for now, risk continues to outweigh opportunity."

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Agencies