KUWAIT CITY - Kuwait stocks almost trod water on Tuesday amid weak sentiments. The index edged 4.5 points higher led by Kuwait Finance House and Mabanee Co even as most of the blue chips traded range bound. The investors remained cautious in wake of absence of robust cues and the underlying bearishness seen in the bourse in the past weeks. The market fell 0.1 percent to 7712.8 points amid a steep drop in volume turnover. Kuwait Finance House climbed 5.4 percent to KD 1.240 on back of 6.5 million shares after pulling lower on Monday. Mabanee Co rallied 4.1 percent amid a volume turnover of 2.4 million. It closed at KD 0.750 after trading in a 50 fils range.
The bourse had moved both ways in the past two sessions and has added 37 points so far in the week. It has fallen 4.5 percent since the start of the month and is trading 1.34 percent year-to-date. The bourse had staged a turn around in late March and rallied strongly till the mid of June when weak sentiments and profit booking shaved off most of the gains.
"It's all about the correlation with oil prices and international markets -- globally, markets were sideways yesterday and oil has cooled down," Reuters quoted Talal al-Loghani, vice-president for Gulf equity markets at Kuwait Finance and Investment Co.
Among other market heavyweights, Agility and Zain closed flat at KD 1.180 and KD 1.280 respectively after closing in same fashion in the previous session. Zain notched a volume turnover of 4.3 million while Agility saw over 2.8 million shares changing hands. Wataniya Telecom ended unchanged at KD 1.660 after sliding in the previous session. Sultan Center dropped 10 fils to KD 0.250 and National Industries Group too did not budge from its previous close after trading over 6.2 million shares.
Trimming
Banking stocks slid 20 fils to wind up at KD 1.200, trimming the previous day gains, while Gulf Bank pulled 10 fils lower to KD 0.320. Commercial Bank held its ground unchanged at KD 1.000 and Al Ahli Bank eased 5 fils to KD 0.490 on low volume turnover. Bank of Kuwait and Middle East ended flat at KD 0.490 while Burgan Bank slipped 5 fils after trading 2.2 million shares. Investment major KIPCO was up 10 fils at close after incurring losses on Monday while National Investment Co closed 10 fils lower at KD 0.270. Securities House Company added 8 fils during the session after trading in a tight range.
International Finance Company slid 15 fils to end at KD 0.255 whereas International Investment Group stagnated at KD 0.072. Aayan Leasing and Investment Co fell 2 fils to KD 0.114 and Bayan Investment eased 4 fils adding to the meager losses on Monday. Global Investment House rose 6 fils on back of 7.5 million shares to KD 0.128. Global has issued a statemant stating hat the company and its employees have been acquitted of all charges in connection with a case filed by Dubai Capital Group. These charges related to Dubai Capital's investments in Al-Thuraya Project Management Co (Mazaya Saudi).
In the bourse related news, Board of directors of Future Communications Co has netted a profit of KD 923.607 and earnings per share of 11.97 fils, compared with KD 891.183 and earnings per share of 11.55 fils for the same period in 2008. In the six month period ended profit stood at KD 1,535,841 and earnings per share of 19.90 Fils. Kuwait Cement Co. has posted a second qaurter profit of KD 21,251,427 and earnings per share of 37.88 fils. In the six months period ended 30/6/2009 the company made KD 12,311,948 and earnings per share of 21.94 fils.
Kuwait Stock Exchange in its latest announcement has said that a total of four companies remains suspended from trading in the bourse for failing to publish their financial statements within the stipulated time. They are Al Dar Investment Company International Leasing Investment Company, Al Safat Global Holding Company, Villa Moda Lifestyle Co.
Osoul Leasing and Financing Co did not budge from its previous close of KD 0.076 and KAMCO was up 10 fils at close on razor thin volume turnover. Osoul has announced that the Central Bank of Kuwait denied the company's renewal validity request to acquire up to 10% of its issued shares.
Al Madar Finance and Investment Co slipped 2 fils to KD 0.090 and Al Safat Investment Co too followed suit to end at KD 0.150. The scrip had eroded 5.5 percent in June and is down over 70 percent from the close of 2008.
NAPESCO dived 50 fils to KD 0.290 and Combined Group Contracting Co dropped 20 fils. Advanced Technology Co climbed 40 fils to KD 0.660 with low volume turnover while Jazeera Airways was down 8 fils at KD 0.214.
Approved
Al Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company announced that its Board of Directors approved the financial results for the three-month period ended 06-30-2009. It made a net profit of KD 588,949 and earnings per share of 0.54 fils compared to KD 1,022,146 and earnings per share of 0.93 fils for the same period 2008. 2. For the the six-month period ended 06-30-2009 the company posted a net profit of KD 9,377,587 and earnings per share of 8.54 fils.
Aqar Real Estate Investments Company has logged a net loss of KD 44,317 and loss per share of 0.19 fils in three-month period ended 06-30-2009 as compared to a net profit of KD 68,542 and earnings per share of 0.29 fils in the year earlier period. In the six-month period ended 06-30-2009 the net loss KD 9,936 and loss per share of 0.04 fils compared to a net profit of KD 277,121 and earnings per share of 1.18 fils in 2008.
The sectoral indices closed mixed. Banking sector inched 0.1 percent lower led by National Bank of Kuwait and Gulf Bank while investment sector was up by same value helped by modest rise in KIPCO and few other positions. The two sectors makes for the bulk of the shares traded in thee bourse.
Real estate slid 0.6 percent weighed by National Real Estate Co while insurance rose 0.9 percent. Industrials edged 0.1 percent lower led by marginal losses by Kuwait Portland Cement Co and Gulf Rocks Co.
Services sector ended unchanged as stocks moved range bound in both directions. Food sector inched 0.2 percent higher while non-Kuwaitis dropped 0.6 percent.
KSE had closed marginally lower in June snapping rally spanning past three months. It edged 0.8 percent down month-on-month to wind up at 8080.3 points in June nixing the hopes of a long term rally.
Weighted index, rose a meager 0.5 percent during June while volume turnover sank 64.7 percent month-on-month.
The top three advancers of the month were Gulf Investors International. Hayat Communications and Boubyan Bank soaring 196.6 percent, 42.1 percent and 40.74 percent respectively whereas the steepest decliner were Gulf Rocks Co, shedding 30.2 percent.
The market spread was tilted towards losers. 42 stocks advanced while 55 closed lower. Of the 138 counters active on Tuesday, 41 closed lower. 6607 deals worth KD 115.3 million were transacted -- down 50 percent in value over previous session.
By John Mathews
© Arab Times 2009
