Kuwait measure sheds 23.29 pts; volume rises

04/02/2014 11:19 AST

Kuwait stocks swung lower Monday, partly reversing the gains in the previous session. The index dropped 23.29 pts in choppy trade to settle at 7,786.72 points weighed by speculative selling in some of the mid and low caps. Most of the frontline stocks closed mixed. The KSX 15 benchmark climbed 5.78 pts to 1,080.59 pts and is up 28 pts from start of the year whereas weighted index edged 0.22 pts higher to 461.12 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile ticked higher after receding in the last 3 sessions. 327.94 million shares changed hands — a 7.35 pct increase from Sunday. It had soared above the 700 million mark on Jan 16 to hit a multi-month high.

The sectors closed mostly in the red. Industrials outperformed the rest with 0.32 percent upswing whereas real estate shed 0.89 pct, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, industrials garnered the highest market share of 29.52 pct while financial services and real estate came in next with 27.08 percent and 27.01 pct respectively. Among the losers, Advanced Technology dropped 20 fils to KD 0.910 and Hilal Cement followed suit to wind up at KD 0.230. Kuwait Portland Cement slid 40 fils and Salhia Real Estate Co gave up 20 fils to close at KD 0.370.

The Energy House slipped 4 fils and Al Salam Group Holding Co fell 6 fils to KD 0.116. IFA Hotels and Resorts eased 5 fils to close at KD 0.275 and Gulf Petroleum Investment Co too was down by same measure. Market heavyweight Zain bucked the trend to gain 10 fils whereas Wataniya Telecom held steady at KD 1.840 off early lows. Zain has earned KD 216.44 million and chalked an earnings per share of 56 fils in 2013 and the Board of Directors has recommended a cash dividend of 50%. Agility climbed 20 fils to close at KD 0.680 and the stock is trading 10 fils down year-to-date.

Slipped

The market opened weak and slipped into red in early trade. The index moved sideways briefly before resuming the downswing as sentiment turned negative. It hit the day’s lowest level of 7,776.05 pts almost half way into the session and edged up before closing slipping again in the final minutes.

Top gainer of the day, KAMCO rallied 7.81 pct to close at KD 0.138 and National Company For Consumer Industries climbed 6.94 pct to stand next. Pearl For Real Estate Co dived 8.2 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Mayadeen topped the volume with over 55 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s decline, the losers outled the winners. 40 stocks advanced whereas 55 closed lower. Of the 143 counters active on Monday, 48 closed flat. 6,114 deals worth KD 33.50 million were transacted — a 7.62 pct fall in value from the day before.

On the flip side, Jazeera Airways gained 10 fils recouping the drop in the day before and Gulf Cable followed suit. Boubyan Petrochemical Co rose 10 fils to KD 0.690 whereas Mabanee Co jumped 20 fils to KD 1.180. Metal and Recycling Co ticked 2 fils higher.

Kuwait Food Co (Americana) was flat at KD 2.500 and KGL Logistics Co followed suit. The company has won the approval of Capital Markets Authority to its request to buy back or sell up to 10% of own shares over a period of 6 months commencing date of approval. ACICO Industries Co was unchanged at KD 0.275 and Kuwait Cement Co followed suit. The company has completed the 2nd phase of subscription in increasing its capital by 7%, which was fully covered. The company’s capital after the increase stands at KD 73.330 million.

National Industries Group, the flagship company of Kharafi Group frittered away slight early gains to end flat at KD 0.228 and Kuwait Gulf Links too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.104. ALAFCO paused at KD 0.260.

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Arab Times