Kuwait index retreats 8.64 pts; volume drops

26/11/2015 06:08 AST

Kuwait stocks retreated Tuesday snapping the three-day upswing. The bourse slipped 8.64 pts in lackluster trade to 5,765.04 points as profit taking weighed on select counters after recent gains. The heavyweights closed mostly lower even as the board remained broadly mixed.

The KSX 15 gauge slid 11.56 pts to 938.59 points trimming the month’s gains to 14 points while weighted index slipped 3 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile receded for the second straight session. 115.39 million shares changed hands – a 16.4 pct drop from Monday.

The sectors closed mostly in the red terrain. Oil and gas outperformed the rest with 1.80 pct gain whereas technology shed 2.85 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services clocked the highest market share of 35.48 pct while real estate and oil and gas followed with 25.4 pct and 15.53 percent contributions respectively.

Among the notable losers, National Bank of Kuwait dropped 20 fils to KD 0.820 after trading 1.7 million shares while Kuwait Finance House was down 10 fils at KD 0.550 and has slid 170 fils year-to-date. Investment conglomerate KIPCO shed 20 fils with a volume of over 2 million.

Bourse heavyweight Zain eased 5 fils to KD 0.370 extending the loss in the last session and Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) was down 20 fils at KD 1.040. Kuwait Telecommunications (VIVA) bucked the market trend to climb 40 fils on back of 1.6 million shares and Agility was up 10 fils at KD 0.520.

Humansoft Holding soared 50 fils with thin trading whereas Kuwait Food Co (Americana) dived 40 fils. The company has clocked a net profit of KD 35.21 million and earnings per share of 90.03 fils in the nine-month period ending September 31,2015. Gulf Insurance Group plunged 50 fils to KD 0.750.

The market opened slightly weak and rose briefly in early trade. The key index hit the day’s highest level of 577.68 pts and slipped again into red as traders booked profit in select counters. It moved sideways thereafter and troughed at 5758.99 points before closing with moderate losses.

Top gainer of the day, Gulf Petroleum Investment Co rallied 9.62 pct and also topped the volume with 16.7 million shares while Massaleh Real Estate Co climbed over 9 pct to stand next.

United Foodstuff Industries Group slid 7.69 pct, the steepest decliner of the day. The company has logged a net profit of KD 385,003 and earnings per share of 11.64 fils in the 9-month period ending September 30, 2015 down from net profit of KD 832,345 and earnings per share of 25.16 fils in the 9M, 2014.

The market spread was almost even. 50 stocks advanced whereas 49 closed lower. Of the 135 counters active on Tuesday 36 closed flat. 3274 deals worth KD 13.2 million were transacted – a 45.8 pct tumble in value from the day before.

Arab Times