(MENAFN- Arab Times) Kuwait stocks nudged lower on Wednesday extending the losses to second straight session. The main benchmark eased 7.47 pts to 7,019.61 points amid lackluster trade. Some of the mid and small caps chalked losses whereas the heavyweights closed mixed. The bourse has been downbeat since last month primarily due to falling oil prices.
The KSX 15 gauge rebounded 10.27 points to 1,131.52 pts trimming the month's losses to 39 pts while weighted index edged 2.12 points higher. The volume turnover meanwhil tumbled below the 200 million mark after rising in the last two sessions. 119.54 million shares changed hands - a 45 pct drop from Tuesday.
The sectors closed mixed. Technology outshone the rest with 1.06 percent jump whereas consumer goods dropped 1.11 pct, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services continued to garner the highest market share of 42.13 pct while real estate and oil and gas followed with 21.64 pct and 12.73 percent contributions respectively.
Among the notable losers, losers, Burgan Bank slipped 10 fils to KD 0.510 after trading 2.18 million shares and is down 40 fils from start of the month while Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait gave up 5 fils to settle at KD 0.435.
Gulf Cable dropped 10 fils and Kuwait Foundry Co followed suit to close at KD 0.320. The company has logged a net profit of KD 2.26 million and earnings per share of 14.74 fils in the first nine-months of 2014, as against KD 2,13 million profit and earnings per share 13.9 fils in the 9M of 2013.
Trend
Sector bellwether Zain bucked the trend to climb 10 fils on back of over 2 million shares whereas Wataniya Telecom was down 20 fils at KD 1.400 erasing the gains in the previous session. Agility held the ground unchanged at KD 0.850 off early highs.
The market opened flat but slipped into red in early trade. The key index meandered listlessly below the opening mark and hit the day's lowest level of 7005.81 pts past the mid-session before slightly clawing back the losses at close.
Top gainer of the day, Pearl of Kuwait Real Estate Co vaulted 14.81 percent to 15.5 fils while Al-Qurain Holding Co climbed 8.57 pct to stand next. PAPCO slid 8.77 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, and Al Safat Energy Co topped the volume with 14.6 million shares changing hands.
Reflecting the day's downtrend, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 29 stocks advanced whereas 52 closed lower. Of the 126 counters active on Wednesday, 45 closed flat. 2421 deals worth KD 12.54 million were transacted - a 62 percent drop in value from the day before.
KGL Logistics Co clipped 2 fils and Kuwait and Gulf Links Co followed suit. . The company has clocked a net loss of KD 1.160 million and loss per share of 4.39 fils in the first six-months of the year as against net loss of KD 866,919 and loss per share of 3.28 fils in the first half of 2013.
National Industries Group gave up slight early gains to close flat at KD 0.206 and United Industries Company too did not budge from its earlier close of 110 fils. The company has won the approval of Capital Markets Authority to buy back or sell up to a maximum of 10% of its shares for 6 months from the date of approval. On the upside, Boubyan Petrochemicals Co climbed 20 fils to KD 0.700 and Jazeera Airways rose 15 fils to KD 0.440 . ALAFCO ticked 2 fils higher to KD 0.248 and Equipment Holding Co was up 4 fils at KD 0.132.
Hilal Cement climbed 10 fils to KD 0.134 and Kuwait Portland Cement gained 20 fils to close at KD 1.360. Kuwait Food Co ( Americana) was unchanged at KD 2.840 off early highs.
In the banking sector, bellwether National Bank of Kuwait rose 10 fils to KD 0.970 on back of 1.11 million shares and Gulf Bank was up by same measure to end at KD 0.310. Commercial Bank of Kuwait was not traded during the session.
Approval
Ahli United Bank gained 10 fils and Kuwait Finance House followed suit. KFH has won the approval of Central Bank of Kuwait to extend the approval to buy back or sell up to a maximum of 10% of its issued shares for 6 months as of the end of the current approval.
Boubyan Bank rose 5 fils with a volume of 1.2 million whereas Kuwait International Bank closed flat. The bank has posted a net profit of KD 9.94 million and earnings per share of 10.66 fils in the nine-month period ending Sept 30, 2014 as against KD 9.29 million profit and earnings per share of 9.95 fils in the same period last year.
Kuwait Investment Co and Securities Group Co eased 2 fils each whereas National Investment Co and KIPCO were unchanged at KD 0.168 and KD 0.690 respectively. Osoul Investment Co took in 2 fils to wind up at 78 fils.
KAMCO and Ekttitab Holding Co clipped 2 fils each whereas Noor Financial Investment was steady at KD 0.104. Sokouk Holding inched 1 fils lower whereas Mabanee Co and Al Mazaya Holding closed flat. National Real Estate Co took in 2 fils.
The bourse was been mixed so far during the week and has climbed 34 points in last four sessions. It has slid 348 pts from start of the month and is trading 7.02 pct lower year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, Al-Shamel International Holding has recorded a net profit of KD 131,963 and earnings per share of 2.83 fils in the January-September period as against KD 626,750 profit and earnings per share of 9.32 fils in first nine-months of 2013.
Aayan Real Estate has registered a net profit of KD 2.58 million and earnings per share of 6.5 fils in the January-September period as soaring from net profit of KD 1.77 million and earnings per share of 4.5 fils in the first nine months of 2013.
Boubyan International Industries Holding has incurred a net loss of KD 3.871 million and loss per share of 12.91 fils in the year ending August 31, 2014, narrowing from a net loss of KD 5.96 million loss per share of 19.89 fils in the previous year.
Kuwait Building Materials Mfg has recorded a net profit of KD 491,332 and earnings per share of 16.2 fils in the first nine months of 2014 as compared to KD 408,953 profit and earnings per share of 13.5 fils in the same period of 2013.
Alsalam Group Holding has posted a net profit of KD 2.733 million and earnings per share of 10.65 fils in the nine-months period ending September 30, 2014 as compared to KD 162,640 profit and earnings per share of 0.63 fils in the same period of 2013.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.