Kuwait stocks retreated on Wednesday, reversing the gains in the previous session as renewed bout of moderate sells offs dragged select stocks lower. The index was down 40.3 points at close, paring deeper losses earlier in the day amid negative sentiments. Heavyweights, Zain and Kuwait Finance House paced the decline even as investors continued to be wary of the market direction. The bourse winded up at 7434.9 points amid a slight drop in volume turnover. The weighted index dropped 5.72 points to settle at 429.53 points.
Zain slid 3.2 percent extending its losses and posted a volume turnover of over 4 million shares. It fluctuated in a 60 fils range before settling at KD 1.200 at close. KFH shed 3.1 percent to close at KD 1.220, more than offsetting the gain on Tuesday. The lender had climbed 3.12 percent in September and is trading almost 8 percent up from the close of 2008.
The bourse has closed lower in five of the past six sessions and has slid 173 points since the start of the week. It has eased 4.8 percent since the start of the month and is trading 2.31 percent lower year-to-date. The bourse has retreated sharply from the year’s high of 8371 points reached in the first week of June owing to bleak earning outlook of some of the banks and investment companies, besides a raft of other factors.
Agility continued to stagnate for the second straight session. It close at KD 1.200 after trading 40 fils in red earlier in the day. Wataniya Telecom dropped 20 fils trimming the robust rise seen on Tuesday. It closed at KD 1.560 with thin trading volume. National Industries Group slipped 15 fils to wind up at KD 0.375. The counter saw over 4.7 million shares changing hands.
Other notable movers incudes Gulf Cables which dived 60 fils during the session. It closed at KD 1.880. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbulding Co dropped 25 fils to end at KD 0.475.
Eased
Banking stocks closed mostly in red. National Bank of Kuwait eased 20 fils to KD 1.220 with volume turnover of 1.3 million shares. The lender had edged 1.5 percent higher in September and has gained almost 19 percent higher year-to-date. The lender has signed an KD 80 million loan agreement with Kuwait Projects Co (KIPCO).
Gulf Bank fell 5 fils to KD 0.325 after fluctauting in a tight 5 fils range. Commercial Bank of Kuwait and Bank of Kuwait and Middle East were not traded during the session while Al Ahli Bank closed flat at KD 0.510 with low volume turnover. Burgan Bank was up 5fils at KD 0.400 while Boubyan Bank lost 10 fils to wind up at KD 0.530.
In the bourse related news, Combined Group Contracting Company announced that its 49%-owned subsidiary, Combined Group Company for Trading and Contracting WLL has inked an 18-month contract to build five schools in Doha and Al Qura (first package), at a total cost of QR 229,200,000 (KD 18.3 million).
Al-Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC) announced that it is preparing to raise $100 million in a syndicated loan facility from local and regional banks. The funds will be used to finance the construction of a new production line of petrochemicals, within QPIC’s strategy to expand operations and diversify its income sources.
Investment major KIPCO did not budge from its previous close of KD 0.490. It posted a volume turnover of 47.3 million shares while Naional Investment Co slipped 10 fils to KD 0.435. International Investment Group inched 5 fils lower to KD 0.066 whilee Aayan Leasing managed to close 5 fils higher.
Bayan Investment Co and Global Investment Co slipped 2 fils each to wind up at KD 0.096 and KD 0.110 respectively. Al Deera Holding and Al Madar Finance and Investment Co too fell 2 fils each while Al Safat Investment closed 4 fils lower at KD 0.124. Noor Financial Investment Co also was down 2 fils at KD 0.104. The company is preparing to launch an equity fund with a capital between KD 5 and KD 50 million after Eid Al Adha. Al Riyada Finance and Investment is appointed as the fund’s advisor.
National Real Estate Co fell 5 fils while Mabanee Co rose 10 fils to KD 0.710. Mazaya Holding Co rose 6 fils on thin trading volume while Gulf Finance House slipped 4 fils to close at KD 0.112. GFH HAS announced that it has signed a deal to sell 10 per cent of investment bank Qinvest, to Qatar Islamic Bank in a deal that would realize about $50 million.
Notched
Kuwait Foundry Company’s has notched a net profit of KD 4,946,521 and earnings per share of 44.95 fils in the three months ending Sep 30 compared to a net profit of KD 1,291,309 and earnings per share of 11.73 fils for the same period in 2008. The six-month period ended 08-31-2009 the net profit stood at KD 6,773,842 and earnings per share of 61.56 fils.
Ahli United Bank has announced its interim financial statements for the periods ended September 30, 2009. In the three-month period ended net profit reached KD 11,597,543 and earnings per share of 2.4 fils compared to a net profit of KD 19,767,536 and earnings per share of 4.2 fils for the same period in 2008. In the nine-month period ended the company notched a net profit reached KD 53,092,709 and earnings per share stood at of 11.1 fils. The sectoral indices all swung lower during the session. Banking sector dropped 0.8 percent led by KFH and National Bank of Kuwait while National Investment Co and some of the mid caps pulled investment sector 0.9 percent lower. The two sectors make for the majority of shares traded in the bourse.
Real estate dropped 0.6 percent weighed by National Real Estate Co while insurance sector edged 0.5 percent lower. Industrials declined 1 percent led by NIG and Gulf Cables. Services edged 0.1 percent lower led by Zain and Wataniya Telecom and food sector fell 0.2 percent. Non-Kuwaitis too closed 0.2 percent lower.
Kuwait is predicted to stay in surplus in 2009 but at levels of about 40 percent of those in the previous year, National Bank of Kuwait has said in its latest report. The impact of the hefty surge in oil prices in 2008 resulted in a KD 4 billion boost to the balance of payments. The current account is expected to remain in surplus, although at 40 percent of its level in 2008. This will directly be translated into less addition to foreign assets,” the report said.
Reflecting the downbeat mood, the losers vastly outled the gainers. 19 stocks advanced while 78 closed lower. Of the 123 counters active on Wednesday, 26 closed flat. 5108 deals worth KD 65.56 million were transacted — up 17 percent from the previous session. Volume turnover tapered almost 11 percent to 358 million after climbing above the 400 million mark on Tuesday.
© Arab Times 2009
