Kuwait Bourse Drops 35.97 Pts; Volume Dips

17/09/2015 05:31 AST

Kuwait stocks swung lower on Tuesday extending the losses to second straight session. The bourse dropped 35.97 pts to 5,733.82 pts dragged by falling oil prices and weak global backdrop. The blue chips were mixed whereas some of the mid and small caps sagged on speculative selling.

The KSX 15 gauge inched 0.24 pts lower to 925.06 pts and is trading 6 points higher from start of the month while weighted index eased 0.62 points. The volume turnover meanwhile shrank further as investors toed caution. 108.60 million shares changed hands — a 33.88 pct drop from Monday.

The sectors all closed in the red barring healthcare which rose 0.47 percent while consumer services shed 1.31 pct, the biigest loser of the day. Volume wise, financial services dominated with 46.55 pct while real estate stood next with 33.47 percent.

Among the notable losers, Kuwait Food Co (Americana) shed 20 fils erasing the gains in the last session while Kout Food Group dived 50 fils to KD 0.580. Commercial Bank of Kuwait slipped 10 fils to KD 0.540 while Gulf Bank gave up 5 fils to end at KD 0.260 and has gained 40 fils so far during the month.

Zain rose 10 fils to KD 0.385 and Wataniya Telecommunication Co (Ooredoo) held the ground unchanged at KD 1.040. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) was down 20 fils at KD 0.830 and Agility dipped 20 fils.

Investment conglomerate KIPCO was flat at KD 0.600 off early highs and National Investments Company followed suit. The company has recorded a net profit of KD 3.80 million and earnings per share of 4.46 fils in the January-June period of 2015 as compared to KD 2.25 million profit and earnings per share of 2.63 fils in the first of last year.

The market opened weak and edged lower in early trade. The price index continued to head south amid weak sentiment and plumbed the day’s lowest level of 5,716.3 points. However it pared back some of the losses in the final minutes before closing with moderate losses.

Top gainer of the day, Kuwait Cable Vision Co vaulted over 9 percent to 30 fils while Real Estate Asset Management Co (REAM) stood next with 6.85 percent upswing. Kout Food slid 7.94 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Imitiaz topped the volume with over 28 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s downswing, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 21 stocks advanced whereas 59 closed lower. Of the 119 counters active on Tuesday, 39 closed flat. 2,421 deals worth KD 10.10 million were transacted — a 12.38 pct drop in value from the day before.

National Industries Group fell 2 fils to KD 0.148 whereas Gulf Cable pulled 10 fils higher. Kuwait Foundry Co slipped 6 fils to KD 0.238 and Boubyan Petrochemicals Co held the ground unchanged at KD 0.510. Equipment Holding Co dialed up 1 fil.

Eased Kuwait Gulf Link Transport Co inched 0.5 fils into red whereas KGL Logistics Company eased 1 fils. The company has posted a net profit of KD 3.49 million and earnings per share of 5.82 fils in the first half of 2015, up from net profit of KD 2.73 million and earnings per share of 5.06 fils in the same period last year.

Jazeera Airways vacillated in a tight range before settling flat at KD 0.460 whereas ALAFCO was not traded during the session. The company has clocked a net profit of KD 13.4 million for the nine-month period ending June 30, 2015. The earnings per share came in at 16.3 fils and company’s total.

Zima Holding gave up 5 fils while Al-Nawadi Holding Co closed 4 fils down. The company has posted a profit of KD 1,007,657 in the six-mnths period ending June 30 2015 and profit per share of 5.54 fils as compared to a profit of KD 974,925 and EPS of 5.36 fils in the same period in 2014.

NAPESCO was steady at KD 0.570 and Mashaer Holding Co too did not budge from its earlier close of 104 fils. Mezzan Holding paused at KD 1.020 and Kuwait United Poultry Co slipped 8 fils

Arab Times