KSE retreats 25.83 pts as profit taking weighs – NBK drops 20 fils;

21/06/2016 02:05 AST

Kuwait stocks retreated on Monday as profit taking kicked in after the strong rally in the previous session. The price index dropped 25.83 pts to 5,431.68 pts in slightly volatile trading even as Americana continued to soar on the stake sale deal clinched during the weekend.

The KSX 15 gauge slipped 5.1 pts to 817.59 points taking the month’s losses to 9 points while weighted index eased 2.02 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile rose further amid bouts of selling and buying. 183.38 million shares changed hands — a 39.38 percent surge from Sunday.

The sectors closed mostly in the red turf. Consumer goods outshone the rest with 1.22 pct gain whereas insurance shed 1.44 pct, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financials services topped with 63.32 pct market share while banks and real estate trailed far behind 18.24 percent and 7.71 pct contributions respectively.

Among the notable losers, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait dropped 20 fils to KD 0.610 on back of 6.7 million shares and Kuwait Finance House was down 10 fils with a volume of 3.73 million. Mabanee Co dropped 10 fils to KD 0.770 partly erasing the gains on Sunday.

Zain continued to stagnate at KD 0.345 off early lows and Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 1.180. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) slipped 10 fils and logistics major Agility gave up 5 fils after trading 1.2 million shares.

KIPCO stood pat at KD 0.510 and National Investments Company added 7 fils. The company has logged a first quarter net profit of KD 1.11 million and earnings per share of 1.3 fils.

The market opened firm and ticked up in early trading. The price index hit the day’s highest level of 5,472.13 pts and retreated thereafter into red. It troughed at 5,415.97 pts past the mid-session before clawing back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Kuwait Cable Vision Co vaulted 10.87 pct to 25.5 fils and Kuwait Food Co (Americana) climbed 9.52 pct to stand next. MENA Holding Co dipped 8.89 points, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Mal topped the volume with 27.86 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s downswing, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 17 stocks advanced whereas 66 closed lower. Of thee 114 counters active on Monday, 31 closed flat. 3,532 deals worth KD 20.6 million were transacted — a 19.6 pct rise in value from the day before.

National Industries Group fell 4 fils to 118 fils after trading over 8 million shares and Gulf Cables shed 20 fils. Kuwait Cement Co and Kuwait Portland Cement were unchanged at KD 0.390 and KD 0.990 respectively while Kuwait Foundry Co clipped 2 fils.

Jazeera Airways pulled up from early lows to close flat KD 0.910 and Humansoft Holding Co jumped 40 fils. The company has posted a net profit of KD 6.19 million and earnings per share of 51 fils in the quarter ending March 31, 2016.

Down

ACICO Industries Co rose 5 fils to KD 0.300 whereas Boubyan Petrochemicals Co was down 10 fils at KD 0.500. Shuaiba Industrial Co stood pat at KD 0.285 and NICBM gave up 8 fils to end at 202 fils.

Combined Grouop Contracting Co dropped 10 fils to KD 0.770 and Burgan Well Drilling Co inched 1 fil into red. The company has posted a net profit of KD 2.36 million and earnings per share of 11.32 fils in the year ending March 31 and the BOD has recommended distributing 5% bonus shares.

Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co closed 4 fils higher and Kuwait & Gulf Link Transport Co gave up 2.5 fils. The company has recorded a net profit of KD 494,405 and earnings per share of 1.87 fils in the quarter ending March 31, 2016.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank rose 8 fils on back of 11.5 million shares and Burgan Bank was up 5 fils at KD 0.320. Commercial Bank and Al Ahli Bank were not traded during the session.

Ahli United Bank stagna

Arab Times