(MENAFN- Arab Times) Kuwait stocks sagged on Sunday extending the previous week's downtrend. The bourse pared back steeper early losses to close 7.02 pts down at 5,317.03 points. The banks remained mostly muted while rest of the board closed mixed.
The KSX 15 benchmark eased 1.07 points to 829.84 pts and is down 55 points year-to-date while weighted index trimmed 0.88 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile dipped below the 100 million mark as investors toed caution in absence of strong cues. Over 99 million shares changed hands - a 20.1 pct drop from Thursday.
The sectors diverged. Healthcare outshone the rest with 1.76 pct gain whereas basic materials and telecommunications both slid 1.41 pct, the biggest losers of the day. In terms of volume, financial services garnered the highest market share of 36.63 pct while real estate and telecommunications followed with 24.5 percent and 15.2 pct contributions respectively.
In the individual shares, Humansoft Holding Co jumped 40 fils to KD 1.120 while Kuwait National Cinema Co vaulted 100 fils. Kuwait Portland Cement Co shed 20 fils and RISCO was down 25 fils at 280 fils. Sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait stood pat at KD 0.630.
Zain fell 5 fils to KD 0.345 after trading 1.2 million shares while Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) tumbled 40 fils to KD 1.100. Kuwait Telecommunications (VIVA) gave up 10 fils to settle at KD 0.930 whereas logistics major Agility was unchanged at KD 0.495.
Investment conglomerate KIPCO pulled up from early lows to close flat at KD 0.530 while Bayan Investment Co clipped 1 fils. The company has incurred a first quarter net loss of KD 199,725 and loss per share of 0.55 fils.
The market opened on tame note and moved sideways in early trade. The main index slipped into red thereafter amid selling in select counters and bottomed at 5,286.45 pts in the final minutes. However it pared back most of the losses at close.
Top gainer of the day, Kuwait Cinema Co jumped 9.09 pct to KD 1.200 while Equipment Holding Co rallied 8.33 pct to stand next. Marakez slumped over 10 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Hits Telecom topped the volume with 13.83 million shares.
Reflecting the day's downtick, the losers outnumbered the winners. 24 stocks advanced whereas 53 closed lower. Of the 125 counters active on Sunday, 38 closed flat. 2,413 deals worth KD 7.56 million were transacted - a 30.69 pct drop in value from the day before.
National Industries Group took in 2 fils on back of 1.7 million shares and Gulf Cable was up 5 fils at KD 0.420. Kuwait Portland Cement shed 20 fils and Kuwait Cement Co gave up 5 fils to settle at KD 0.370. Boubyan Petrochemicals Co dropped 20 fils to KD 0.520.
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Jazeera Airways was unchanged at KD 0.880 while ALAFCO added 4 fils to close at 204 fils. Mezzan Holding Co dropped 20 fils to KD 1.020 and Nafais Holding Co closed 6 fils lower at 168 fils. Safwan Trading and Contracting Co 290 fils climbed 20 fils.
KGL Logistics paused at 78 fils and Kuwait & Gulf Link Transport Co inched 0.5 fils up. The company has recorded a net profit of KD 494,405 and earnings per share of 1.87 fils in the quarter ending March 31, 2016 rebounding from net loss of KD 721,250 and losses per share of 2.73 fils in the same period last year.
Metal and Recycling Co fell 5 fils to 59 fils while Kuwait Foundry Co and Hilal Cement clipped 2 fils each to end at 182 fils and 142 fils respectively.
NICBM was flat at 208 fils and Kuwait Food Co (Americana) followed suit. The company has announced a first quarter net profit of KD 15.19 million and earnings per share of 38.8 fils in the January-March period down from net profit of KD 17.31 million and earnings per share of 44.3 fils in Q1 of 2015.
Zima Holding Co inched 0.5 fils up whereas ACICO Industries Co trimmed 5 fils. NICBM stood pat at 208 fils and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co dialed down 2 fils to settle at 206 fils.
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank was unchanged at 226 fils off early lows and Commercial Bank of Kuwait too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.430. Al Ahli Bank and Ahli United Bank too stagnated at 335 fils and 420 fils respectively.
Kuwait Finance House rose 5 fils to KD 0.475 on back of 1.7 million shares whereas Burgan Bank stood pat at KD 0.330. Boubyan Bank was down 5 fils at KD 0.395 and Kuwait International Bank dialed down 2 fils. Warba Bank was up 2 fils at 174 fils.
National Investment Co dropped 6 fils to 108 fils after trading 108 fils while KFIC and Al Deera Holding Co were unchanged at 40 fils and 39 fils respectively. Ekttitab Holding and Sokouk Holding eased 0.5 fils each whereas Warba Insurance House paused at 100 fils.
National Real Estate Co and Salhia Real Estate Co were flat at 89 fils and 360 fils respectively while Real Estate Trade Center Co closed 2.5 fils the red.
The market was negative during last week. The main index closed down in four of the five sessions and tumbled 71 points week-on-week. It has dived 73 points from start of the month and has retreated 5.31 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 190 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, Hilal Cement Company has registered a net profit of KD 415,000 and earnings per share of 5.4 fils in the first quarter of 2016 rebounding from a net loss of KD 78,685 and losses per share of 1.0 fils in 2015 Q1.
Advanced Technology Company has registered a net profit of KD 1.53 million and earnings per share of 10.25 fils in the three-month period ending March 31, 2016 as against a net profit of KD 1.15 million and earnings per share of 7.69 fils in the same period last year.
Shuaiba Industrial Co has posted a net profit of KD 629,557 and earnings per share of 7.93 f ils in the first quarter of 2016 as compared tonet profit of KD 444,921 and Earnings per share 5.65 fils in the same period last year.
Aqar Real Estate Investments Co as penciled a net profit of KD 278,860 and earnings per share 1.30 fils in the first three months of 2016 as against a net profit of KD 506,241 and earnings per share of 2.22 fils in the same period last year.
Mezzan Holding Co has reported a net profit of KD 5.19 million and earnings per share of 16.68 fils in the quarter ending March 31, 2016 as against net profit of KD 5.45 million and earnings per share of 17.52 fils in the same period last year.
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