Kuwait equities decline 24.9 pts amid volatile trade; Zain weighs

16/06/2010 00:00 AST

Kuwait stocks eroded further on Tuesday after plumbing fresh lows in the previous session. The index dropped 24.9 points in volatile trade led by select blue chips and some of the industrials stocks. The market mood remained lackluster even as selling dominated the trading floor.

The bourse closed at 6528.6 points clawing back deeper losses earlier in the day. The weighted index dipped 3.09 points to settle at 394.86 points while volume was almost stagnant at 171.32 million. It had been anemic since the Zain stake sale euphoria subsided. Among the notable decliners, Zain slid 60 fils extending its red streak to the second day. The stock closed at KD 1.040 after trading 12.2 million shares. Wataniya Telecom shed 20 fils after posting an identical fall in the previous session. It ended at KDD 1.660.

Agility held the ground unchanged at KD 0.380 and saw a volume turnover of 1.49 million shares. The stock had slid 25 percent in May and is trading 190 fils lower year-to-date. The ongoing legal problems with the US government have hurt Agility’s chances to win new contracts. The market opened weak and fell sharply in early trading as investors exited select positions fearing larger losses. The index plunged for whole of the first half and hit the lowest level of 6446 points past the mid-session amid bearish sentiments. The market flipped direction and partly recovered the losses in the final hour. The benchmark had slid below the 7000 mark on 23rd May.

The top gainer of the day, Dar Al Thuraya Real Estate Co jumped 9.8 percent to end at KD 0.056 while National Industries Company For Building Materials climbed 7.14 percent to stand next. Al Themar International Holding Co slid 8.4 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, while Investors Holding Group continued to top the volume with 17.68 million shares changing hands during the day.

3950 deals worth KD 38.17 million were transacted - an increase of 13.8 percent from the previous session. KSE, with 208 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

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Arab Times