Kuwait bourse swings lower as crude retreats–Tamdeen sheds 50 fils;

KIPCO flat

16/06/2016 02:13 AST

Kuwait stocks swung lower on Wednesday after treading water in the day before. The bourse dropped 21.78 pts to 5,390.36 points as sentiment was roiled by fall in oil prices which slipped below the $50 mark. However, the banks and other blue chips remained mostly muted.

The KSX 15 benchmark was unchanged at 810.8 pts and is down 16 points during the month while weighted index inched 0.7 pts lower to 353.21 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile saw a modest rebound after falling sharply in the last session. 88.9 million shares changed hands — a 21.6 pct rise from Tuesday.

The sectors closed mostly in the red zone. Oil and gas outshone the rest with over 3 percent gain whereas basic materials shed 1.9 pct, the weakest performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services notched the highest market share of 63.27 pct while real estate and banks trailed far behind with 9.4 percent and 7 pct contributions respectively.

Among the notable losers, Tamdeen Investment Co tumbled 50 fils to KD 0.310 and Tamdeen Real Estate Co gave up 10 fils. Humansoft Holding Co was down shed 40 fils to settle at KD 1.340 and Boubyan Petrochemical Co was down 30 fils at KD 0.520.

Zain was unchanged at KD 0.340 and Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 1.140. Kuwait Telecommunication Co (VIVA) stagnated at KD 0.930 and Agility followed suit to end at KD 0.485.

Investment conglomerate KIPCO stood flat at KD 0.510 and Kuwait Finance and Investment Co added 1.5 fils. The company has logged a net loss of KD 255,507 and loss per share of 0.8 fils in the three-month period ending March 31, 2016 as compared to net profit of KD 201,486 and earnings per share of 0.7 fils in Q1 of 2015.

The market opened on dull note and moved sideways in early trade. The price index continued to trade flat as investors toed caution and slipped into red past the mid-session. It plumbed the day’s lowest level of 5,385.46 pts before paring back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, NAPESCO climbed 7.35 pct to KD 0.730 while Noor Financial Investment Co rose 6.41 percent to stand next. Tamdeen Investment Co slid 13.89 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and National Investment Co topped the volume with 11.8 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s downswing, the losers outnumbered the winners. 26 stocks advanced whereas 39 closed lower. Of the 111 counters active on Wednesday, 46 closed flat. 1,911 deals worth KD 8.4 million were transacted — a 6.5 pct rise in value from the day before.

National Industries Group rose 4 fils to 114 fils on back of 1.4 million shares while Gulf Cable and RISCO held the ground steady at KD 0.400 and KD 0.305 respectively. Kuwait Cement Co paused at KD 0.375 and Shuaiba Industrial Co followed suit.

Clipped

Jazeera Airways was unchanged at KD 0.920 off early lows and ALAFCO was up 6 fils at 210 fils. Kuwait Foundry Co clipped 2 fils and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co was down by same measure. ACICO Industries Co dropped 10 fils to 295 fils.

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co fell 1.5 fils whereas Mezzan Holding Co closed flat. The company has reported a net profit of KD 5.19 million and earnings per share of 16.68 fils in the quarter ending March 31, 2016 Zima Holding Co stood pat at 42 fils and Kuwait Food Co (Americana) followed suit. The company has announced a first quarter net profit of KD 15.19 million and earnings per share of 38.8 fils in the January-March period down from net profit of KD 17.31 million and earnings per share of 44.3 fils in Q1 of 2015.

In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait was unchanged at KD 0.610 after trading 2.8 million shares and Gulf Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of 222 fils. Commercial Bank of Kuwait and Al Ahli Bank were not traded during the session.

Ahli United Bank stagnated at KD 0.405 and

Arab Times