KUWAIT CITY : Kuwait stocks dipped on Sunday, reversing the nine-day gaining spree, which took the index well beyond the 15,000 points mark, driven mostly by middle and low level scrips. The market shed 91.4 points as profit taking dragged most of the blue chips lower led by Agility and Zain. Agility shed 1.8 percent while the telecom service provider fell over 1 percent extending its losses. Mena Holding plunged 100 fils, the maximum permitted single day loss, after posting strong gains in the past week. Banking stocks swayed in both directions while industrial and service sector scrips closed mostly in the negative region. Sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait took in 20 fils and so did Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait while Gulf Bank shed 40 fils. Wataniya dropped 40 fils while KAMCO bucked the trend to gain 40 fils.
KSE index lost 0.6 percent points in choppy trading to wind up at 14,996.3 points amid a decrease in volume turnover. Notable among the other gainers Tamdeen Real Estate Company rallied 45 fils and Mabanee Co jumped 40 fils. The market had been buoyant during the past week supported by renewed buying in middle level stocks. It closed higher in all the five sessions and has added over 300 points week-on-week. It is up 19.66 percent this year, the third best performer in the region after Oman and Doha. The sectoral indices, swung mostly lower. Banking sector fell 0.1 percent led by Gulf Bank while the investment sector closed flat as gains in select large caps were erased by losses in others. The two sectors makes for the bulk of shares traded in the bourse.
Climbed
Real estate climbed 0.7 percent led by Mabanee Co and Al Tamdeen Real Estate Co. Industrials dropped 1.6 percent paced by National Industries Co and Mena Holding Co while the services sector shed 1.2 percent as most of the blue chips posted moderate losses.
In the bourse related news, Global Investment House has acquired 10 percent of National Company for Consumer Industries which has a share capital of KD 9 million. Investment Dar is eying investment in telecom and oil projects in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates by buying into existing companies.
National Investments Co has bought stakes in Saudi Joint Ventures Co, which has a share capital of $90 million.
Kuwait and Middle East Financial and Investment Co is considering buying stakes in brokerages in Turkey and North Africa. The company is also planning to start office in Egypt and Riyadh. It has also posted a 15 percent rise in first quarter profit. Kuwait International Bank is planning to set up a bank in Syria worth $100 million and a real estate company in Egypt worth $200 million Securities Group is planning to sell its 29 percent stake in Ittihad Brokerage Company to Commercial Bank of Kuwait for KD 1.025 per share.
The volume of shares dropped 17.8 percent to 452 million after climbing well above the 500 million mark in the previous session. The banking sector slid 65 percent volume wise while the investment sector closed almost stagnant. The real estate sector rose 7.1 percent led by Grand Real Estate and Touristic Development Co while the industrials shed 1.6 percent volumewise. Services sector dipped 38 percent as speculative positions saw lower volume turnover.
Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CBK), has offered to hike its stake in Syrian Cham Bank by buying Investment Dar's stakes. National Industries Group, the biggest industrial entity in the country in terms of market cap, is seeking to sell a 10 percent stake to a foreign investment bank worth $775 million. Al Safat Tec Holding Company announced that its fully owned Kuwaiti British Company for Education Services has qualified to list in the parallel market.
Earning
Gulf Finance House has announced a first quarter net profit of KD 3.4 million and an earning per share of 8.08 fils. Burgan Holding Company has approved the distribution of bonus shares of 8 percent of the paid up capital for the financial year ending 31 Dec 2007. Haj and Umrah Services Company (Mashaer), has approved a 25 percent hike in the company's capital at a nominal value of 100 fils plus a premium of 350 fils for its existing shareholders.
The market opened weak and fell steadily below the red as profit taking dragged stocks across the board. It continued to erode and edged below the 15,000 point mark due lack of fresh positive cues. The market winded up slightly below the psychological barrier at the close amid negative sentiments.
Traders and investors in Kuwait Stock Exchange are heartened by the growth of the bourse during the year, according in a recent report. Low priced stocks, especially those below KD 0.500 had been the favorite since the start of the year and is one of the factors that has kept the market on roll. Some of them are griping over the recent trend wherein large portfolio managers and mutual fund managers who buy up a huge number of stocks in the closing minutes, deprive the small investors from cashing in on their limited number of stocks.
Mirroring the downbeat mood, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 34 stocks advanced while 71 closed lower. Of the 152 counters active on Sunday, 47 closed unchanged. 9,857 deals worth KD 168 were transacted -- down almost 20 percent in value over previous session. The bourse, the second biggest in the region, has 194 listed companies.
Top percentage gainer, Tamdeen Real Estate Co vaulted 9.1 percent to KD 0.540 while Gulf Horizon Holding climbed 6.5 percent to stand next. Gulf Rocks tumbled 6.5 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, while National Ranges (Mayadeen) topped the volume with over 107 million shares changing hands.
Elsewhere
Elsewhere in the region, markets closed mixed. The Saudi Al Tadawul All Stocks Index climbed 1.03 percent, snapping the seven day downward spiral, paced by SABIC and Al Rajhi Bank which rose 0.18 percent and 0.57 percent respectively. The region's largest market is down 12.35 percent since the start of the year.
Dubai Financial Market dropped 1.52 percent to close at 5,741.55 points weighed by Emaar properties and Emirates NBD while the less liquid Abu Dhabi Securities edged 0.64 percent to 5,034.9 points on the back of Etisalat and National Bank of Abu Dhabi. Doha fell 26.03 points reversing the earlier gains, while the top performer Oman shed 47.65 points. The bourse is up 22.85 percent year to date.
The oil meanwhile spiked to above $126 a barrel on Friday, hitting a record high for the fifth straight session, driven by tight supplies of diesel. U.S crude for June delivery rose $1.87 to $125.56 a barrel, off a record high of $126.20 a barrel. London Brent saw a $2.81 rise to end at $125.65 a barrel. The international oil markets do not operate on Saturdays and Sundays.
The euro fell to a two month low against the dollar on Thursday as a sharp drop in euro zone retail sales spurred worries about the region's economy. The dollar slid to a record low against the euro last month, boosting dollar denominated commodity prices, but has crawled back since. Supply disruptions in Nigeria earlier in the week due to attacks by militants has hit output and supported the market which is getting increasingly sensitive to threats to supply.
By John Mathews
© Arab Times 2008
