(MENAFN- Arab Times) Kuwait stocks pulled lower to end the month on a sour note. The price index dropped 22.37 points in choppy trade to close at 6,297.46 pts weighed by selling pressure in select counters. The banks closed narrowly mixed whereas the telecom shares were muted.
The KSX 15 benchmark rose 5.02 pts to 1016.34 points paring the month's losses to 1,016.34 points and weighted index edged 0.86 pt up. The volume turnover meanwhile dipped below the 200 million mark after shrinking in the last session. 190.45 million shares changed hands € a 18.46 pct fall from Thursday.
The sectors closed mostly in the red turf. Parallel market outshone the rest with 1.26 pct gain whereas oil and gas dived 4 pct, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services notched the highest market share of 52 pct while real estate and industrials trailed far behind with 28.82 pct and 7.59 percent contribution respectively.
Among the sharp losers, United Projects Co tumbled 50 fils to KD 0.640 extending an identical slump in the last session and NAPESCO was down by same measure to close at KD 0.520. Independent Petroleum Group Co shed 25 fils to settle at KD 0.295.
Bourse heavyweight Zain was unchanged at KD 0.435 after gyrating in tight range and Wataniya Telecom too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 1.340. Kuwait Telecommunications Co vacillated before pausing at KD 0.940 whereas logistics major Agility added 10 fils to wind up at KD 0.730.
Spiked
On the upside, Kuwait National Cinema spiked 100 fils to KD 1.120 and Kuwait Food Co (Americana) extended its advance with 40 fils gain. The company has posted a 4.3 percent fall in Q1 net profit which stood at KD 17.3 million in the first three months of 2015.
The market opened weak and nudged higher in early trade. The main gauge peaked at 6,322.97 points almost an hour into the session and retreated thereafter as sentiment turned weak. It drifted sideways for some time before resuming the downswing and bottomed at 6280.89 pts and managed to claw back some the losses at close.
Top gainer of the day, Kuwait Cinema Co soared 9.8 pct to KD 1.120 and Qurain Holding Co stood close behind with 9.68 pct jump. Safwan Trading Co dived 9.28 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, and Gulf Investment House topped the volume with 33.6 million shares.
Reflecting the day's drop, the losers outnumbered the winners. 39 stocks advanced whereas 46 closed lower. Of the 129 counters active on Sunday, 44 closed flat. 4,159 deals worth KD 17.4 million were transacted € a 6.45 pct fall in value from the previous session.
National Industries Group, the flagship company of the Kharafi Group, was flat at 174 fils and has retreated 14 fils during the month and Gulf Cable too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.560. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co and Contracting and Marine Services Co shed 8 fils each.
ALAFCO was flat at KD 0.218 and Jazeera Airways climbed 10 fils to end at KD 0.218. The airline has posted a net profit of KD 3 million in the first quarter of 2015, an increase of 44.6% from the same quarter last year.
City Group paused at KD 0.500 and The Energy House inched 1 fils up. The company has logged a net loss of KD 1.024 million and loss per share of 1.366 fils in the three months of the year ending March 31.
KGL Logistics Company inched 1 fils up and Kuwait Resorts Co nudged 4 fils higher to KD 0.108. Humansoft Holding Co held steady at KD 0.690 while ACICO Industries Co and Boubyan Petrochemicals Co gained 10 fils each. Kuwait Foundry Co closed 5 fils higher.
National Real Estate Co clipped 2 fils to settle at KD 0.100 and Al Mazaya Holding Company was unchanged at KD 0.116. The company has posted a net profit of KD1.71 million in the first quarter of 2015 and earnings per share clocked 2.77 fils, as compared to 2.37 fils in same period of 2014.
Rallied
In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait rallied 20 fils on back of 2.7 million shares and Gulf Bank was steady at KD 0.275. Al Ahli Bank fell 5 fils to KD 0.355 whereas Commercial Bank of Kuwait was not traded during the session.
Ahli United Bank was unchanged at KD 0.560 off early highs and Kuwait International Bank trimmed 2 fils to close at KD 0.244. Burgan Bank held steady at KD 0.425 after trading 1.1 million shares and Boubyan Bank followed suit. Kuwait Finance House slipped 10 fils to KD 0.640 and is down 40 fils from start of the month.
National Investment Co dropped 6 fils to KD 0.122 after trading 2.4 million shares and KIPCO was flat at KD 0.620. Kuwait Financial Centre rose 4 fils to KD 0.110 whereas KAMCO dialed down 2 fils. National International Holding Co was up 5 fils on back of over 12 million shares and Noor Financial Investment gave up 5 fils.
The bourse was mixed during last week. The price index closed lower in three of the five sessions and dropped 18 pts week-on-week. It has dived 85 points during the whole of the month and is trading 3.72 pct lower year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, Gulf Insurance Group (GIG) has registered a net profit of KD 3.7 million or 20.86 fils per share, for the financial period ended March 31, 2015 € an increase of 22.8 percent from the same period last year. Shareholder equity reached KD 82.5 million - a growth of 3.7 percent.
Tamdeen Investment Co has recorded 18.5 pct rise in its earnings of the first quarter. It stood at KD 7.25 million compared to KD 6.12 million in the Q1 of 2014 while earnings per share came in at 25.75 fils.
Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co has posted a net profit of 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.
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
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