Kuwait stocks edged lower Thursday to end week on sour note. The index fell 8.23 points in volatile trade to close at 5,907.73 points extending the losses to fourth straight session. Some of the mid-caps posted modest to strong gains even as the blue chips closed mixed. The trading floor however continues to be wracked by ongoing political uncertainties and absence of positive cues.
KSX 15 slipped 1.29 points to 950.93 points while weighted index inched 0.46 points lower. The volume turnover rose marginally to 211.68 million adding to the rise in the previous session. Among the sectors, technology outpaced with 12.91 point increase whereas insurance, the worst performer slid 12.35 points. KSE, after shedding 2.74 percent in May, is currently languishing at four month low.
Bourse heavyweight Zain fell 10 fils erasing the gains in the day before and closed at KD 0.690. Wataniya Telecom held the ground unchanged at KD 2.080 off early lows. The stock has hit a record high of KD 2.480 in second half of April.
Agility bucked the trend to gain 5 fils and wound up at KD 0.370. The stock has shed 25 fils from the start of the month and is trading 5 fils lower year-to-date. Kuwait Gulf Links slipped 5 fils after trading 1.84 million shares.
Among other decliners, Kuwait Pipes fell 2 fils to KD 0.102 and Kuwait Cement Co was down 5 fils at KD 0.395. Jazeera Airways dropped 15 fils to KD 0.385. The carrier has registered 17.8 percent jump in quarterly profit to KD 1.2 million.
On the upside, Kout Food Group climbed 50 fils while Kuwait Food Co (Americana) was up 20 fils partly recouping the fall in the previous session. The stock has eased 20 fils so far during the month and is down 220 fils year-to-date. Combined Group Contracting Co rose 20 fils to KD 1.240 and Automated Systems followed suit to end at KD 0.510.
Higher
The market opened slightly higher but fell sharply in early trade. The index trod a volatile course thereafter amid moderate bouts of buying and selling and hit the day’s lowest level of 5873.05 points in the final minutes. It ticked up to pare the losses slightly and wound up below the red.
Top gainer of the day, Pearl of Kuwait Real Estate Co rose 9.62 percent to 28.5 fils while Dar Al Thuraya Real Estate Co climbed over 9 percent to stand next. Wethaq Takaful Insurance Co slid 8.33 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, whereas Gulf Finance House topped the volume with 48.67 million shares.
The market spread was skewed slightly towards the losers. 43 stocks advanced whereas 48 closed lower. Of the 123 counters active on Thursday, 32 closed flat. 4113 deals worth KD 14.81 million were transacted - down 6.19 percent in value from the day before.
In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait held the ground unchanged at KD 1.020 erasing early gains and saw a volume turnover of over 1 million shares. Gulf Bank too was flat at KD 0.405 while Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the day.
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