Middle East political tension hits stocks

17/02/2011 00:00 AST

Kuwait stocks closed with heavy losses yesterday as investors were shocked by political tension in several countries in the Middle East. These worries overshadowed a solid kickoff to the earnings season. A steep sell-off in the most of GCC markets yesterday signaled a weak performance of Kuwaiti stocks.

On the economy front, the governor of Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) Sheikh Salem Abdul-Aziz Al-Sabah said yesterday that the Kuwaiti market has reached saturation point for a number of Islamic banks at this stage. The governor told Reuters that the number of local Islamic banks registered with the Central Bank of Kuwait are five banks in addition to a branch of a foreign Islamic bank against five conventional banks.

Losses were steady throughout the session. Global General Index (GGI) closed 3.05 points down (1.42 percent), at 212.02 point closed at its lowest level in almost eleven weeks. The Market capitalization decreased reaching KD34.48bn. Kuwait Stock Exchange Price Index closed in the red zone as well, shedding 91.90 points (1.38 percent) from its value and closed at 6,559.5 point.

Market breadth

During the session, 120 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards decliners as 90 equities retreated versus 11 that advanced. Seven out of the eight indices lost ground during the day. Trading activity during the session was within the monthly average. Investors exchanged 200.09mn shares (+23.73 percent) at a total value of KD43.45mn (+15.54 percent).

The Investment Sector was the volume leader yesterday, accounting for 27.68 percent of total shares and the Banking Sector was the value leader, with 48.69 percent of total traded value. Company-wise, Kuwait International Bank was the most actively traded stock during the day, with 17.89mn shares exchanged at a total traded value of KD5.37mn. The scrip reported a 1.59 percent losses in its price.

It's worth mentioning that, Kuwait International Bank said it posted a FY2010 net profit of KD16.75mn compared with net losses KD8.23mn in 2009. Total assets of the bank stood at KD1.141bn at the end of December 2010, up 0.13 percent from KD1.140bn recorded in the corresponding period in 2009.

In terms of top gainers, Arab Insurance Group (ARIG) was the biggest gainer for the day, adding 21.13 percent and closed at KD0.172. On the other side, Al-Themar International Holding Co came in as the biggest decliner, dropping by 9.09 percent and closed at KD0.100.

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Kuwait Times