Kuwait market gains momentum; index rallies 57.5 pts amid volume drop

21/06/2010 00:00 AST

Kuwait stocks revved up on Sunday adding to the gains in the previous two sessions. The benchmark climbed 57.5 points in choppy trade led by Zain and select blue chips. Buying was also seen in some of the industrials even as investors appeared restrained in taking up fresh positions.

The index wound up at 6640.6 points while the weighted index rose 6.79 points to settle at 406.66 . The volume turnover however dropped 22.9 percent to 180.57 million after holding above the 200 million mark in the previous two sessions. It had slid below the 100 million mark on June 7, indicating the underlying bearish sentiments.

Zain surged 5.5 percent, extending the robust gains in the previous session. It closed at KD 1.140 and posted a volume turnover of 4.49 million shares. The stock had resumed trading on June 9 after being suspended on May 30 pending the disbursal of 2009 dividends.

Among other prominent gainers, National Bank of Kuwait rose 20 fils on back of 1.07 million shares after closing flat on Thursday. It settled at KD 1.200. The stock had shed 6.45 percent in May and has added 80 fils since the since the start of the year.

Wataniya Telecom was up 20 fils at KD 1.700 while Agility held the ground unchanged at KD 0.390 after trading 1.22 million shares. The logistics service provider has posted a 52.5 percent fall in first quarter net profit. It stood at KD 17.6 million - less than half of the KD 37 million earned in the same period last year. Kuwait Food Company (Americana) rallied 40 fils to end at KD 1.400.

The market opened strong and gained momentum in early trading as investors chased both heavyweight and mid-priced stocks amid positive sentiments. The index plateued after first hour of the session and traded sideways thereafter. However a rise in buying in the final minutes helped push the market higher at close. The bourse had slipped below the 7,000 mark on May 23 and has been moving range bound owing to lack of fresh cues.

The sectoral indices swung mostly in the positive direction. Banking sector rose 1 percent while investment rallied 1.3 percent, and the industrials which posted an identical gain. Insurance sector closed flat whereas real estate inched 0.2 percent higher. Real Estate was up 0.2 percent and services gained 0.8 percent. Food was the top performer soaring 1.9 percent.

For more on this Click Here

Arab Times