KSE indices close in negative – Sentiment roiled by sliding global equ

14/02/2016 05:44 AST

The KSE indices all witnessed a close in negative amid worries of sliding global equities and decline in oil price. Equities across the Middle East witnessed free fall in response to slipping oil prices; further; the Brent crude has been moving downwards after a marginal increase in the previous week. The Brent crude currently trades at USD 30.55 per barrel.

The markets closed at 5,131.56 a drop of 66.81 points on a weekly basis. While the KSX15 which comprises of the market blue chips closed at 827.17 down 13.38 points, and the MUDX Islamic Index closed below the 500 level at 487.89 down 3.48% during the week.

The Weekly volumes reported 706.68 million shares compared to 919.91 million shares in previous week. Among the major contributors the Financial Services Sector (contributing 42.60%) witnessed 301.01 million shares of trading compared to 305.65 million shares in the previous week, while Real Estate Sector (contributing 28.97%) witnessed 204.73 million shares of trading compared to 261.52 million shares in the previous week.

Sectors with notable volumes included the Consumer Goods sector, was the only sector that reported gains, and with a increase of 33.69% during the week. Counters like Mezzan Holding Co. (Mcap – KWD 320.22 million) witnessed 1.52 million shares in trading compared with 0.65 million shares the previous week, which we believe is in anticipation of likely earnings announcements.

The overall Market Cap was down by an 1.9% as it stood at KWD 24.02 billion as the market saw an downward trend in the blue chips that were the main factor. National Bank of Kuwait – NBK (Mcap – KWD 3.62 billion) saw its market cap remain unchanged. While Mobile Telecommunication Co – Zain (Mcap – KWD 1.46 billion) also saw its market cap drop up by 6.85% after reporting a 20.58% drop in its FY2015 earnings. Kuwait Food Co. – Americana (Mcap – KWD 956.76 million) the only counter to see its market cap surge by 19.00% after Al Khair National for Stocks & Real Estate Company confirmed signing a preliminary agreement with Adeptio LLC Company to sell its stake in the company.

On the total market breadth, Of the 56 Islamic Companies, 8 advanced while 40 declined during the week. The Islamic universe market cap witnessed a negative week to close at KWD 5.89 billion an drop of 4.10%. The universe heavyweights like Kuwait Finance House – KFH (Mcap – KWD 2.26 billion) saw a drop of 5.00% in its market cap. While Boubyan Bank (Mcap – KWD 784.04 million) also witnessed a decrease of 5.00% in its market cap.

Arab Times