KSE price index loses 42.96 points closing in red

Kuwait Stock Exchange's KSE15 index ended Monday's trading session with a gain of 6.5 points to read 969.47 points.

The price index lost 42.96 points dropping to 5,791.02 points. The weighted index went up 0.82 points to 398.01 points.

Trades came to 3,852 transactions, worth KD 15,308,303.699 and volume reached 215,953,572 shares.

Top share for the day was that of Kuwait Foundry Company. The biggest loser was Kuwait Gypsum Manufacturing Trading Company and top volume share was that of Al-Safwa Group Company.

The 14 sector indices were mixed upon closing.

Weighted index of Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) lost 0.76 points reaching level of 396.43 points in early trading of Monday's session.

Price index lost 39.3 points falling to 5,794.68 points. But the KSX 15 index gained 0.81 points reaching 963.78 points by 9:25 a.m.

Number of trades amounted to 518, value of traded shares KD 2,566,760.125 and volume of exchanged stocks 27,221,667.

In more news, First quarter of 2012, three months ending in March, witnessed an increase of profitability of GCC companies, according to a lengthy study released by Global Investment House on Monday.

Total net income of GCC companies for that period was 14.5 billion US dollars, a 12.9 percent increase over the March-2011 level of $12.9 billion.

The study covers 543 locally listed companies, in which 39 companies are from Bahrain, 160 from Kuwait, 65 from Oman, 41 from Qatar, 144 from Saudi Arabia, and 94 from UAE. It excludes those that have not reported financial results, dual listing companies and companies whose fiscal year does not end on Dec. 31.

By country, all GCC stock markets managed to enhance their bottom lines by the end of March 2012, barring the Bahrain Bourse, with its corporate profitability declining by 0.9 percent year on year (YoY). The Kuwaiti market had the best performance amongst its regional peers, with its corporate profitability increasing by 40.6 percent YoY after excluding non recurring earnings of Wataniya of KD 265.5 million, recorded in first quarter (Q1) of 2011, due to a revaluation of the existing held interest in Tunisiana, following increase in the shareholding from 50 percent to 75 percent.

By sector, Q1 2012 aggregate net profits for GCC Banking sector increased by 9.9 percent YoY. Insurance sector was also a notable gainer, with its aggregate net profit increasing by 34.7 percent YoY by the end of Q1 2012.

On the negative side, aggregate net profit of GCC services stocks retreated marginally by 0.2 percent YoY, as it dropped from $445 million in Q1 2011 to $444.3 million in Q1 2012.

As to GCC markets' profitability by sector, profitability of Bahraini listed stocks declined marginally by 0.9 percent by the end of Q1 2012, as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. Aggregate corporate profits announced by Bahraini companies stood at $560.3 million in Q1 2012, down from $565.5 million in Q1 2011.

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