(MENAFN- Arab Times) KUWAIT CITY March 22: Kuwait stocks retreated on Sunday after closing the previous week on an upbeat note. The bourse slipped 11.95 pts to 6423.48 points weighed by some of the banks and other blue chips. The market sentiment remained dull in absence of catalysts.
The KSX 15 benchmark dropped 7.93 pts to 1054.57 points taking the month''s losses to 62 points while weighted index pulled 3.08 pts lower. The volume turnover meanwhile rebounded mainly on spurt in speculative trading. 158.98 million shares changed hands n a 32.56 pct jump from the day before. The sectors closed mostly in the red. Industrials outpaced the rest with 0.49 pct rise whereas parallel market slid 2.69 pct the biggest loser of the day. In terms of the volume financial services accounted for the highest market share of 63.93 pct while real estate and banks followed with 22.38 percent and 4.6 pct respectively. Among notable losers Kuwait Food Co (Americana) dropped 20 fils to KD 2.860 and Gulf Cable was down by same measure to close at KD 0.560. Boubyan Petrochemical Co gave up 10 fils to wind up at KD 0.590 and Kuwait Financial Centre pulled 5 fils lower to KD 0.110. Bourse heavyweight Zain slipped 10 fils to KD 0.490 while Wataniya Telecom tumbled 60 fils to KD 1.440. Kuwait Telecommunication Co (VIVA) slid 60 fils to KD 0.870 after eking modest gains in the day before and logistics major Agility held the ground unchanged at KD 0.800 after vacillating in a tight range. Flat National Bank of Kuwait closed flat and Commercial Bank of Kuwait pulled 30 fils lower. The bank has posted a net profit of KD 49.122 million and earnings per share of 34.9 fils in 2014 soaring from net profit of KD 23.534 million and earnings per share of 16.7 fils in the year before. The Board of Directors has recommended a cash dividend of 18%. The market opened firm and edged lower in early trade. The main index slipped into red and continued to head south as selling weighed on select counters. It plumbed the day''s lowest level of 6405.31 pts past the half-way mark and pared back some of the losses in the final hour. Top gainer of the day KCIC vaulted 9.43 pct to 58 fils and Humansoft climbed 8.62 percent to stand next. Al Deera Holding slumped 10 pct the biggest loser of the day and Gulf Finance House topped the volume with 38.72 million shares. Reflecting the day''s downswing the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 24 stocks advanced whereas 24 closed lower. Of the 125 counters active on Sunday 43 closed flat. 3283 deals worth KD 14.35 million were transacted a 18.75 pct drop in value from the day before. National Industrial Group was unchanged at KD 0.188 and Kuwait Foundry Co edged 5 fils lower. 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 213 million profit and earnings per share 13.9 fils in the 9M of 2013. Kuwait Cement Co was flat at KD 0.390 and Equipment Holding Co edged 2 fils lower to 90 fils. Ikarus Petroleum Industries Co gained 10 fils whereas Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co clipped 2 fils. Automated Systems Co and NAPESCO paused at KD 0.435 and KD 0.610 respectively. Mashaer Holding Co dropped 8 fils to KD 0.130 whereas Jazeera Airways held the ground unchanged at KD 0.540 off early lows. KGL Logistics Co inched 1 fils higher to 94 fils. Investment conglomerate KIPCO climbed 10 fils to KD 0.670 whereas National Investment Co pulled 6 fils lower to KD 0.138. Kuwait Investment Co held steady at KD 0.132 and First Investment Co added 5 fils on back of over 15 million shares. Eased Al Deera Holding eased 1 fil and Sokouk Holding followed suit. The company has clocked a net profit of KD 5.012 million and earnings per share of 9 fils in the year ending Dec 31 2014 down from net profit of KD 18.22 million and earnings per share of 35 fils in the year before. The Board of Directors recommended 5 percent bonus shares. In the banking sector Burgan Bank was flat KD 0.470 and Gulf Bank of Kuwait too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.295. Al Ahli Bank climbed 10 fils whereas Ahli United Bank pulled 10 fils lower to KD 0.620. Kuwait Finance House fell 10 fils to KD 0.750 after trading 2.33 million shares whereas Kuwait International Bank fell 5 fils to KD 0.255. Boubyan Bank paused at KD 0.415. The bank has clocked a net profit of KD 28.23 million and earnings per share of 14.39 fils in the year ending Dec 31 2014 as against net profit of KD 13.408 million and earnings per share of 6.83 fils in the same period last year. The Board of Directors recommended a cash of 5 percent plus 5 pct bonus shares. Bayan Investment Co and Osoul Investment Co were unchanged at 56 fils and 61 fils whereas Noor Financial Investment was up 3 fils at 92 fils. National Real Estate Co was flat at KD 0.140 and Mabanee Co followed suit to end at KD 1.020. The bourse was downbeat during the week. It closed lower in 4 of the 5 sessions and dipped 79 points week-on-week. The main index has tumbled 172 points so far during the month and is down 1.72 pct year-to-date. KSE with 213 listed companies is the second largest bourse in the region. In the bourse related news Kuwait Gypsum Manufacturing and Trading has logged a net profit of KD 336262 and earnings per share of 11.25 fils in 2014 rebounding from net loss of KD 329 and loss per share of 0.01 fils in the year before. The Board of Directors recommended a cash dividend of cash 10%. Warba Bank has recorded a net profit of KD 115000 and earnings per share of 0.12 fils in 2014 rebounding from net loss of KD 3.709 million and loss per share of 3.71 fils in 2013. Educational Holding Group has posted a net profit of KD 1.593 million earnings per share 6.5 fils in the three-month period ending November 30 2014 as against net profit of KD 1.377 million and earnings per share of 5.6 fils in the same period last year. Alsalam Group Holding has registered a net profit of KD 1.974 million and earnings per share of 7.69 fils in 2014 up from net profit of KD 188238 and earnings per share of 0.73 fils last year. The Board of Directors has recommended 5 percent bonus shares. Kuwait Building Materials has posted a net profit of KD 668360 and earnings per share of 22.04 fils during 2014 and the Board of Directors has recommended a cash dividend of 15%. By John Mathews Arab Times Staff
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