(MENAFN - Arab Times) Kuwait stocks went into a dizzying tailspin Sunday, amid mounting political worries.
The index tumbled 180.53 points, the biggest one-day fall in over 3-years, to wind up at 5,729.38 points. The day's broad decline was led by small caps and most of the frontline stocks too tanked under bearish onslaught ahead of a major demonstration planned by some of the political opposition figures later in the day.
The KSX 15 benchmark slid 6.85 points to 981.15 points while the weighted index was down 5.34 points. The volume turnover ticked higher on back of speculative trading across the sectors. 269.24 million shares changed hands - up 12.77 percent from the day before.
Among the sectors, real estate was the hardest hit, plunging 37.35 percent and real estate followed with 3.83 percent drop. In terms of volume, financial services topped with 37.35 percent market share and real estate stood next with 29.10 percent.
Wataniya Telecom slid 60 fils, extending the decline to third session, and wound up at KD 2.360 whereas Zain held the ground unchanged at KD 0.740 off early lows. The stock has shed 160 fils from start of the year.
Agility continued its slide with 25 fils loss and the counter saw 5.13 million shares change hands while Kuwait Gulf Links edged 5 fils lower. The company has posted a 55 percent year-on-year decline in losses to KD 3.85 million during the first half of 2012.
City Group dived 80 fils with razor thin trading and Combined Group Contracting Co shed 60 fils. Yiaco Medicals retreated 25 fils and Jazeera Airways was down 15 fils at KD 0.465. The stock has added 5 fils from start of the month whereas year-to-date, it has eased 10 fils.
Fell
National Industries Group fell 10 fils to KD 0.202 extending the losses from day before. Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co was down 40 fils at KD 0.690. The company has recorded a net profit of KD 2,193,509 and earnings per share of 51.11 fils in the first nine months of 2012. This compares with earnings of KD 2,010,116 and EPS of 49.89 fils in the same period in 2011.
The market opened weak and pulled sharply lower in early trading. The index continued to slide as investors exited counters across the sectors and hit the day's lowest level of 5704.41 points in the final minutes. It managed to pare some of the losses but closed deep in red.
Top gainer of the day, Hilal Cement Co rose 6.1 percent to KD 0.174 while Mowasat Hospital Co rose 4.94 percent to stand next. City Group tumbled 13.79 percent, the biggest loser of the day, while Gulf Finance House topped the volume with 39.02 million shares.
Mirroring the day's steep losses, the loser vastly outled the winners. 5 stocks advanced whereas 125 closed lower. Of the 146 counters active on Sunday, 16 closed flat. 4619 deals worth KD 30.83 million were transacted - an increase of 16.83 percent in value from the day before.
The bourse has been trending lower for most part of the month . "Chances are the market will slide again because of the changes announced by the emir but something will be done to stop this-the government will be injecting cash through it national portfolio," Reuters quoted Fouad Darwish, head of brokerage at Global Investment House.
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank fell 10 fils to KD 0.405 WHILE National Bank of Kuwait was flat at KD 0.970 after trading 2.55 million shares. NBK has posted a 37-percent rise in third-quarter net profit to KD 108.10 million compared with KD 78.9 million a year ago.
Commercial Bank of Kuwait stagnated at KD 0.6990 and Ahli United Bank followed suit to wind up at KD 0.870 paring steep early losses. Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the session.
Burgan Bank eased 10 fils to KD 0.510 and Kuwait International Bank fell 5 fils to KD 0.265. KIB has logged a net profit of KD 9,404,491 and earnings per share of 10.07 fils in the January-September period as against KD 8,180,030 profit and earnings per share of 8.76 fils in the same period last year.
Higher
Boubyan Bank held the ground unchanged at KD 0.630 after closing higher in the previous session. Kuwait Finance House was unchanged at KD 0.760. 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.
Kuwait Investment Co fell 5 fils to 95 fils and Commercial Facilities Co was down by same measure. KIPCO dropped 10 fils and KAMCO edged 2 fils lower. The company has obtained the Capital Market Authority approval to buy-back or sell up to 10% of own shares over the period starting Sept 17, 2012. Noor Financial Investment Co slipped 5 fils and First Investment Co was down 8 fils. Bayan Investment Co slipped 2.5 fils. 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.
National Real Estate Co dropped 6 fils and Tamdeen Real Estate Co inched 2 fils up. Salhiya Real Estate Co slipped 20 fils and Mabanee Co was down by same measure.
The bourse swung lower during last week. It closed in red in three of the five sessions and shed 58.98 points week-on-week. It has tumbled 253.31 so far during the month and has shed over 1 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.
