KSE swings 30.94 pts lower; volume shrinks – Al Jazeera Airways drops

04/05/2016 05:20 AST

Kuwait stocks swung lower on Monday after eking modest gains in the last session. The price index slid 30.94 points to 5,372.49 pts amid selling in select counters. The market sentiment was soggy even as investors digested the latest quarterly results.

The KSX 15 gauge climbed 3.95 pts to 854.5 points paring the year’s losses to 30 pts while weighted index edged 0.38 points up. The volume turnover meanwhile ebbed further reflecting investors wariness. 117.55 million shares changed hands — a 15.6 pct drop from Sunday.

The sectors closed mostly in the red zone. Basic materials outshone the rest with 3.77 percent gain whereas financial services shed 2.15 pct, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, real estate accounted for the highest market share of 32.6 pct while financial services and basic materials stood followed with 20 percent and 13.4 pct contributions respectively.

Among the day’s losers, Automated Systems Co dropped 25 fils to KD 0.325 and Mezzan Holding was down 20 fils at KD 1.180, Mabanee Co gave up 10 fils to settle at KD 0.850 and National Industries Group shed 8 fils after trading 1.4 million shares.

Zain rose 5 fils to KD 0.350 recouping the loss in the last session while Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) climbed 20 fils to KD 1.100 with thin trading and is trading 20 fils lower year-to-date.

Agility was flat at KD 0.500 and Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) followed suit. The company has recorded a net profit of KD 9.81 million and earnings per share of 20 fils in the quarter ending March 31, 2016.

The market opened weak and edged lower in early trade amid selling in some of the low and mid caps. The price index moved sideways well past the mid-session before eroding further to hit the day’s lowest level of 5,360.8 pts in the final minutes. However it pared back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Boubyan Petrochemicals Co rallied 7.8 pct to 550 fils while KFIC climbed 6.8 pct to stand next. Al Dar National Real Estate Co slid 10 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Sokouk Holding Co topped the volume with 17.4 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s downswing, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 28 stocks advanced whereas 57 closed lower. Of the 128 counters active on Monday, 43 closed flat. 2,944 deals worth KD 19.3 million were transacted — a 19.3 pct drop in value from the day before.

Kuwait Food Co (Americana) gave up 20 fils to close unchanged at KD 2.420 while Gulf Cable fell 5 fils to wind up at KD 0.370. Kuwait Cement Co dialed up 5 fils whereas Kuwait Portland Cement Co stood pat at KD 1.020.

Jazeera Airways dropped 10 fils to KD 0.870 while ALAFCO clipped 2 fils. Jazeera has reported a net profit of over KD 4 million and earnings per share of 20.05 fils in the quarter ending March 1, 2016 up from KD 3.01 million and earnings per share of 7.18 fils in the same period last year.

Added
Kuwait Foundry Co took in 2 fils while PAPCO and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co added 4 fils to settle at 104 fils and 214 fils respectively. Jeeran Holding Co was flat at 73 fils and Zima Holding followed suit. Mashaer Holding rose 2 fils to 82 fils.

United Projects Co gained 20 fils and City Group Company slid 25 fils to KD 0.475. The company has registered a net profit of KD 1.84 million and earnings per share of 16.35 fils in the January- March period of 2016 as compared with net profit of KD 1.64 million and earnings per share of 14.57 fils in Q1 of 2015.

Equipment Holding Co eased 1 fils to 55 fils and ACICO Industries stood pat at KD 0.290. RISCO too held the ground steady at 305 fils.

In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait rallied 10 fils on back of over 1 million shares while Gulf Bank was unchanged at KD 0.240 off slight early highs. Kuwait International Bank added 4 fils with a volume of 1.15 million

Arab Times