(MENAFN- Arab Times) Kuwait stocks nudged lower on Monday snapping a seven day winning spree. The price index eased 1.51 points in volatile trading to close at 6388 pts even as investors consolidated their gains. The market mood diverged in a moderate range while blue chips remained mostly subdued. The KSX 15 benchmark slipped 7.42 points to 1051.86 pts taking the year's losses to 10 points and weighted index edged 2.41 points lower. The volume turnover meanwhile retreated again as it continued to vacillate below the 300 million mark. 252.73 million shares changed hands € a 13.86 pct drop from Sunday.
The sectors closed mixed. Parallel market outpaced the rest with a 3.29 pct surge while banks shed 0.95 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services notched the highest market share of 41.11 pct while real estate and telecommunications trailed far behind with 22.59 percent and 19.11 pct contributions respectively. Among the individual shares, Kuwait Portland Cement dropped 20 fils to KD 1.260 and Humansoft Holding too was down by same measure to wind up at KD 0.630. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) was unchanged at KD 2.600 whereas Kout Food Group climbed 20 fils to KD 0.680. Bourse heavyweight Zain slipped 5 fils to KD 0.480 after trading 1.44 million shares whereas Wataniya Telecom held the ground unchanged at KD 1.420 and the stock is trading 20 fils higher year-to-date.
Steady
Logistics major Agility held steady at KD 0.790 and Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) closed 10 fils higher at KD 0.880 after trading 1.67 million shares. The company has posted a net profit of KD 10.4 million in the quarter ending March 31, 2015 - an increase of 21 pct from same period last year while earnings per share clocked 21 fils compared to 17 fils in Q1 2014.
National Bank of Kuwait was unchanged at KD 0.860 and Commercial Bank of Kuwait slid 30 fils to settle at KD 0.620 . The bank has clocked a 16.8 percent growth in first quarter earnings.
The market opened flat and slipped into red in early trade. The key measure continued to drift lower as sentiment turned negative and bounced back almost half way into the session to peak at 6396.31 points. It retreated again to hit the day's lowest level of 6365.79 pts before clawing back most of the losses at close.
Top gainer of the day, Dalqan Real Estate Co leapt 30 percent to 130 fils while NAPESCO climbed 9.26 pct to stand next. Gulf Finance House dived 7.46 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Hits Telecommunications Co topped the volume with over 45 million shares.
Mirroring the day's upswing, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 32 stocks advanced whereas 56 closed lower. Of the 135 counters active on Monday, 47 closed flat. 4938 deals worth KD 19.36 million were transacted € a 5.56 pct fall in value from the day before.
National Industries Group was flat at KD 0.188 off early lows and Kuwait Cement Co too did not budge from its earlier close of 0.360. ACICO Industries paused at KD 0.305 and Kuwait Foundry Co was up 10 fils at KD 0.285.
Equipment Holding Co ticked 2 fils lower and Energy House Co was down 5 fils at 93 fils with a volume of over 1 million. Kuwait Building Materials Co soared 25 fils to settle at KD 0.415 and City Group followed suit to end at KD 0.500 after posting an identical gain in the previous session.
ALAFCO dialed up 2 fils whereas Jazeera Airways held steady at KD 0.520. The airline has posted a net profit of KD 3 million in the first quarter of 2015, an increase of 44.6 percent from the same quarter last year.
Burgan Well Drilling Co slipped 4 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co paused at KD 0.900. Zima Holding Co gave up 5 fils while Oula Fuel Marketing Co and Yiaco Medical Co gained 6 fils each. Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co inched 1 fils lower while KGL Logistics was flat at 81 fils.
Mabanee Co stagnated at KD 0.960 and Al Mazaya Holding Company clipped 2 fils. The company has posted a net profit of KD1.71 million in the first quarter of 2015, a 16.6 percent increase from KD1.47 million from corresponding period of 2014. Earnings per share clocked 2.77 fils.
Flat
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank was flat at KD 0.280 off early lows and Kuwait Finance House pulled 10 fils lower. The bank has posted a net profit of KD 29.9 million in the first three months of 2015 and earnings per share clocked 6.12 fils
Al Ahli Bank rose 5 fils to KD 0.370 and Burgan Bank was down 5 fils at KD 0.445 with a volume of over 1 million. Kuwait Finance House dropped 10 fils and Kuwait International Bank was flat at KD 0.255. Boubyan Bank gave up 5 fils whereas Ahli United Bank was not traded during the session.
Kuwait Investment Co and National Investment Co were unchanged at KD 0.134 and KD 0.130 respectively whereas KIPCO shed 20 fils after trading 1.33 million shares. Kuwait Financial Centre dropped 8 fils and Kuwait Insurance Co jumped 25 fils to end at KD 0.320.
The bourse was largely positive during the week and added 11 points in last two sessions. It had rallied 95 points during whole of April and is trading 2.26 pct lower year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co has posted a net profit KD 629,298 and earnings per share of 14.17 fils in the January-March period of 2015 as against net profit of KD 281,177 and earnings per share of 6.33 fils in Q1 of 2014.
Sokouk Holding has clocked a net profit of KD 5.012 million and earnings per share of 9 fils in the year ending Dec 31, 2014 and the Board of Directors recommended 5 percent bonus shares.
Capital Markets Authority has approved the listing of Mizan Holding Company in Kuwait Stock Exchange main market subject to fulfillment of some conditions.
Kuwait Foundry Co 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.
Warba Bank has recorded a net profit of KD 115,000 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.
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 188,238 and earnings per share of 0.73 fils last year. The Board of Directors has recommended 5 percent bonus shares.
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