(MENAFN- Arab Times) Kuwait stocks sagged Wednesday, extending the decline to second consecutive day.
The index gave up early gains to close 8.9 points lower at 5936.36 pts led by blue chips as investors toed the sidelines in wake of the political protests. Selling was also seen in some of the mid and small caps amid skittish sentiments. The KSX 15 index dropped 11.6 points to 980.16 pts while the weighted index eased 3.57 pts. The volume turnover dropped for the second straight day to hit the month's lowest level. 265.7 million shares changed hands - down 14.34 percent from the day before. KSE, after eking moderate gains in September, has been range trading so far during the month amid political worries.
Sector wise, oil and gas outperformed the peers with 1.33 percent rise whereas technology chalked 3.87 percent slide to emerge as the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services clocked the highest market share of 46.96 percent while real estate and industrials followed with 26.79 percent and 15.05 percent respectively.
Wataniya Telecom slid 60 fils to KD 2.440 after stagnating on Tuesday and is down 140 fils from start of the month. Zain shed 10 fils to KD 0.720 and Agility followed suit to wind up at KD 0.520. The company had said last week that it had no news to explain the advance seen in its stock price in last two months.
Hilal Cement Co dived 60 fils to KD 0.164 and Automated Systems Co dropped 25 fils with thin trade. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) pulled 20 fils lower to KD 1.600 and Kuwait Hotels Co was down 8 fils. National Industries Group slipped 4 fils to KD 0.214 after stagnating in the day before. The stock has eased 4 fils from start of the month while year-to-date, it has knocked off 46 fils year-to-date. Gulf Cables retreated 20 fils and Burgan Well Drilling Co edged 4 fils lower.
Flat
The market opened flat but rose sharply in early trade. The index continued to gain ground on speculative buying in select counters to peak at 5,971.49 pts almost half way into the session. It retreated thereafter as sentiments weakened and slipped below the red in final minutes before closing with moderate losses.
Top gainer of the day, Gypsum Trading and Manufacturing Co climbed 7.81 percent to KD 0.138 and Wethaq Takaful rose 7.58 percent to stand next. Hilal Cement Co tumbled 26.79 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, while Mayadeen topped the volume with 31.49 million shares.
Mirroring the day's fall, the losers out led the winners. 41 stocks advanced whereas 51 closed lower. Of the 136 counters active on Wednesday, 44 closed flat. 4525 deals worth KD 20.08 million were transacted - down 14.34 percent in value from the day before. "The market is a bit shaken from the sell-off yesterday due to the protest," Reuters quoted a Kuwait-based trader. "It is looking for a direction and a resolution to the political chaos." On the upside, Gulf Manufacturing Co spiked 40 fils on thin trading to KD 0.680 and Combined Group Contracting Co rebounded 60 fils from the steep losses in the previous session. NAPESCO rose 20 fils and IFA Hotels and Resorts were up 10 fils at KD 0.450.
Independent Petroleum Group climbed 15 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement Co added 10 fils to end at KD 0.940. Kuwait Gulf Links ticked 2 fils higher to 92 fils. The stock has shed 6 fils from start of the month while year-to-date it has retreated 10 fils. In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait dropped 20 fils after trading 2.77 million shares and Gulf Bank edged 5 fils lower to KD 420. Commercial Bank of Kuwait an Al Ahli Bank were not traded during the session. CBK has logged net profit after tax of KD 450, 000 in the first six months of 2012 while gross operating revenue clocked KD 78.4 million. Kuwait International Bank slipped 10 fils whereas Ahli United Bank held the ground unchanged at KD 0.860. AUB has earned net profit of KD 28,970,120 and earnings per share of 27.2 fils in the first nine months of the year.
Fell
Burgan Bank fell 10 fils to KD 0.510 and Kuwait Finance House followed suit. The lender has obtained the approval of Central Bank of Kuwait to extend the approval of buying back or selling a maximum of 10% of its issued shares for 6 months from the expiration of current approval. Boubyan Bank was flat at KD 0.620. International Financial Advisors edged 1 fils higher on back of 4.35 million shares and Kuwait Investment Co followed suit. Commercial Facilities Co pulled 5 fils lower whereas National Investment Co stagnated at KD 0.128 with a volume of 2.42 million shares.
KIPCO was unchanged at KD 0.390 off early lows and Securities Co inched 1 fils lower. KMEFIC eased 2.5 fils with thin trading while Al Aman Investment Co took in 1 fils. Noor Financial Investment Co closed flat. The company has reduced its capital by 49,9% from KD 75 million to KD 37.56 million.
First Investment Co fell 2 fils to KD 0.120 whereas Al Maal Investment Co held steady at 39 fils. Bayan Investment Co inched 0.5 fils lower. The company has posted a KD 3.95 million losses and loss per share of 11.02 fils in the January-June period as compared with KD 6.37 million and 17.81 fils per share in year-earlier period.
The bourse has been mixed far during the week and has shed 32.53 pts in last four sessions. It has slid 46.33 points so far during the month and has gained 2.5 percent year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region. In the bourse related news, Burgan Well Drilling Co posted a net profit of KD 359,071 and earnings per share of 1.71 fils in quarter ending June 30 as against profit of KD 253,359 and earnings per share of 1,21 fils in the same period last year.
Al-Madar Finance and Investment Co has recorded a loss of KD 4.6 million and loss per share of 22.51 fils in the first six months of 2012 rising sharply from KD 2.6 million and 13.08 fils LPS in 2011 H1. In the second quarter, the losses amounted to KD 4 million. Boubyan Petrochemicals Co, has posted profit of KD 101,000 or 0.21 fils per share in the 3-month period ending July 31, 2012, falling 88.1% from KD 850.5 thousand and EPS of 1.76 fils in the same period last year. Securities House Co has posted net loss of KD 1,165,040 and loss per share of 1.8 fils in the January-June period as compared to net loss of KD 16,397,844 and loss per share of 25.7 fils in the same period last year.
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