(MENAFN- Arab Times) Kuwait stocks trod water Tuesday as it opened after the Eid-Al-Adha holidays.
The index inched 0.5 points lower to 5,769.84 points in volatile trade weighed by select mid-caps even as the blue chips remained muted. The trading floor sentiment was cautious over the lingering political tension.
The KSX 15 benchmark eased 1.37 points to 977.71 points and is down over 22 points from its baseline while the weighted index inched a marginal 0.02 points lower.
The volume turnover meanwhile slipped for the fourth straight session. 154.68 million shares changed hands - down 4.40 percent from the close of last week.
Sector wise, oil and gas outpaced the rest with 0.95 percent rise whereas technology slid 3.86 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial sector topped with 58.78 percent market share while real estate and industrials followed with 26.96 percent and 5.28 percent respectively.
Automated Systems Co dropped 25 fils to KD 0.435 while Gulf Cables was down 20 fils at KD 1.080. Kuwait Portland Cement slipped 10 fils and Hilal Cement pulled 6 fils lower to KD 0.158.
Bourse heavyweight Zain closed flat at KD 0.740 after gyrating in a tight range and Agility too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.495. The stock has shed 25 fils from start of the month while year-to-date, it has rallied 120 fils. Wataniya Telecom stagnated at KD 2.260 off early lows.
Among other movers, United Projects Group rose 10 fils to KD 0.570 and Kuwait Food Co (Americana) gained 20 fils to wind up at KD 1.640. Burgan Well Drilling Co rose 10 fils and IFA Hotels and Resorts Co added 5 fils with thin trading. Kuwait National Cinema Co climbed 20 fils to end at KD 2.100.
Lower
The market opened on flat note and moved sideways in early trade. The index drifted lower thereafter as sentiments weakened and hit the day's lowest level of 5,756.28 points. It clawed back thereafter to peaked at 5,775.35 points past the mid-session and retreated again before paring most of the losses at close.
The top gainer of the day, Kuwait Business Town surged 16.13 percent to 18 fils and Burgan Well Drilling Co climbed 7.25 percent to stand next. Sanam Real Estate Co slid 8.47 percent, the worst performer of the day, and Gulf Finance House topped the volume with 24.5 million shares.
The market spread was slightly biased towards the winners. 43 stocks advanced whereas 41 closed lower. Of the 124 counters active on Tuesday, 40 closed flat. 3053 deals worth KD 13, 43 million were transacted - 33.81 percent jump in value from the previous session.
On the upside, National Industries Group rose 2 fils on back of 3.72 million shares and Kuwait Pipes followed suit to close at KD 0.108. NIG has shed 12 fils from start of the month while year-to-date, it has slid 54 fils. Metal and Recycling Co rose 2 filss and ACICO Industries Co followed suit.
Tamdeen Real Estate Co climbed 4fils to KD 0.224 and Warba Insurance Co was up by same measure to end at KD 0.120. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services earlier in September had assigned its 'BBB' insurer financial strength and counterparty credit ratings to the insurance co. The outlook is stable.
In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait closed flat at KD 0.960 off early lows and Gulf Bank followed suit to end at KD 0.405. The lender has posted a 5.6 percent increase in third-quarter net profit to KD 9.62 million compared with KD 9.11 million in the same period last year.
Burgan Bank was unchanged at KD 0.510 whereas Al Ahli Bank and Commercial Bank were not traded during the session. Ahli United Bank shed 20 fils to close at KD 0.840. 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.
Boubyan Bank pulled up from early trough to end at KD 0.630 and Kuwait Finance House too was unchanged at KD 0.750 after trading 1.03 million shares. Kuwait International Bank was steady at KD 0.270. KIB has logged a net profit of KD 9,404,491 and earnings per share of 10.07 fils in the January-September period.
Rose
International Financial Advisers rose 1.5 fils on back of 24.48 million shares while National Investment Co slipped 4 fils. Securities Group Co ended flat at 64 fils.
The company has obtained Capital Market Authority approval to sell and buy back up to 10% of own shares during the period from September 17, 2012 till March 17, 2013.
Securities House Co was steady at 64 fils whereas 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.
Kuwait Financial Centre Co (Markaz) climbed 4 fils and Al Mal Investment was up 1 fils at 37 fils. Ektitab Holding slipped 1 fils to 75 fils whereas Noor Financial Investment Co took in 1 fils. National Real Estate Co was unchanged at KD 0.118 and Mabanee Co followed suit.
The bourse had been mixed during the week. It closed lower in two of the four sessions and tumbled 139.57 pts week-on-week. It has dived 211.85 points so far during the month and has shed 0.37 percent year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, United Industries Co has logged a net profit of KD 2,852,471 and earnings per share of 5.97 fils in the first nine months of 2012. This compares with KD 1,022,457 net profit and earnings per share of 2.07 fils in the same period in 2011.
Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait has posted net profit of KD 30,353,000 and earnings per share of 20 fils in the nine months to September 2012 as compared to earnings of KD 39,885,000 and 27 fils in the comparable period in 2011.
Al-Tamdeen Investment has earned KD 4,475,284 with earnings per share of 15.03 fils in January-September period as against net profit of KD 4,461,515 and earnings per share of 14.90 fils in the same period last year.
Independent Petroleum Group has recorded net profit of KD 5,077,000 and earnings per share of 35.10 fils in the first three quarters of 2012 as against net loss of KD 3.832 million and loss per share of 26.50 fils in the January-September period of 2011.
Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co 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.
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