NBK dives 90 fils, Al Eid shines

KUWAIT CITY, March 8: Kuwait stocks piled up massive losses on Sunday tracking regional peers, as investors exited positions amid bearish sentiment.

The All Shares Index plummeted 481.21 pts in a broad decline to 5,306.83 pts, the second biggest single day drop after last Sunday’s tailspin. Blue chips led by banking majors paced the day’s tumble.

The Premier Market tanked 640.55 points to 5,750.41 pts and the trading was stopped in the final hour as it breached the 10 pct limit while the Main Market slid 162.7 points to 4,432.95 points. The BK 50 Main index dived 226.1 points to 4,516.87 pts.

The volume turnover meanwhile, bounced after hitting month’s lowest in the previous session. Over 199 million shares changed hands – a 47 pct surge from the day before. All sectors barring one closed in red.

Consumer Goods, the only gainer, was up 1.14 pct and Insurance dived 10.4 percent, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, Banking Sector topped with 63.9 million shares and it also dominated in value with KD 32.3 million.

Among the notable losers, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait skidded 90 fils to 879 fils with a volume of 12.8 million while Kuwait Finance House tumbled 75 fils to 679 fils with heavy trading and is down 113 fils so far during the month.

Mabanee Co slid 118 fils to 691 fils after pushing 1.2 million shares. Zain dived 59 fils to 480 fils after trading 7.4 million shares while STC dropped 28 fils to 752 fils. Humansoft Holding sank 149 fils to KD 2.930 and Integrated Holding was down 33 fils at 500 fils. Agility slid 118 fils to 592 fils with a volume of 5.4 million.

The market opened on a flat note and slipped into red in early trade. The main index continued to erode as heavy selling gripped most of the heavyweights. It traded sideways in the final minutes before closing with steep losses.

Top gainer of the day, Al Eid rallied 10 pct to 86.9 fils and NCCI climbed 8.66 pct to stand next. ALAFCO skidded 18.4 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Investors Holding topped the volume with 16.6 million. Mirroring the day’s tumble, the market spread was almost totally skewed towards the losers. 6 stocks advanced whereas 110 closed lower. Of the 122 counters active on Sunday, 6 closed flat. 1,1291 deals worth KD 49.33 million were transacted during the session.

National Industries Group dropped 25 fils to 193 fils with a volume of 2.7 million and Mezzan Holding paused at 475 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co slipped 11 fils to 581 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co shed 20 fils. Jazeera Airways slid 177 fils to 540 fils after trading 1.2 million shares while IFA Hotels and Resorts gave up 4.6 fils. OSOS slipped 6 fils to 106 fils and Mashaer Holding fell 3 fils to 68 fils.

Inovest erased 4 fils before ending at 60 fils and SPEC clipped 2.3 fils. Jiyad closed 4.2 fils lower at 35.4 fils. Kuwait Cement dropped 10 fils to 190 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement dipped 39 fils to 880 fils. Gulf Cement Co took in 0.8 fils and Fujairah Cement eased 1 fil to 42 fils. Soor Fuel dialed down 2 fils and Sultan Centre eased 1 fil to 51 fils. Kuwait National Cinema Co slid 78 fils to 802 fils with thin trading while Gulf Petroleum Investment trimmed 0.9 fil after pushing over 6 million shares. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co shed 24 fils. Equipment Holding clipped 2.7 fils and Salbookh tripped 0.9 fil before ending at 44 fils.

Gulf Cable dropped 36 fils to 441 fils and Warbcap trimmed 1.2 fils. ACICO Industries clipped 1 fils and Educational Holding slipped 5 fils to 313 fils. KCPC fell 7 fils to 273 fils and KPPC ended 2.7 fils in red. Kuwait and Gulf Links trimmed 0.9 fil and KGL Logistics fell 2.4 fils to 31 fils Automated Systems Co slipped 6.1 fils to 55.2 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co dipped 19 fils to 207 fils.

In the Banking Sector, Gulf Bank dropped 37 fils to 237 fils with a volume of 12.8 million and Burgan Bank followed suit to end at 240 fils. Kuwait International Bank dipped 20 fils to 244 fils and Boubyan Bank skidded 55 fils to 555 fils. Commercial Bank was unchanged at 500 fils and Al Ahli Bank slipped 8 fils to 243 fils. Ahli United Bank shed 28 fils after trading 15.4 million shares and Warba Bank was down 20 fils at 240 fils. Al Mutahed skidded 19 fils to 309 fils. KIPCO slipped 8 fils to 190 fils while Kuwait Investment Co was down 10 fils at 139 fils.

FACIL gave up 7 fils and International Financial Advisors clipped 1.3 fils. Coast Investment eased 0.2 fil to 35.6 fils and Securities House closed 5.5 fils in red. AL Mal clipped 1.3 fils after trading 3.5 million shares. Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) slipped 6 fils to 99 fils and KMEFIC gave up 3 fils. Arzan trimmed 0.9 fil after trading 7.7 million shares and and Madar Finance followed suit. GIH erased 5.5 fils and Osoul dialed down 2 fils. Alola eased 1.9 fils to 31.7 fils. KAMCO was flat at 92 fils and KFIC tripped 1.6 fils. NIH bucked the trend to add 4.9 fils and Unicap clipped 1 fils. Al Salam fell 2.6 fils to 25.2 fils and Ektittab Holding inched 1.4 fils into red. Sokouk fell 4 fils to 30 fils. Noor Financial Investment dropped 16 fils to 130 fils and Tamdeen Investment gave up 7 fils.

Al Madina trimmed 2.6 fils after trading over 6 million shares and GNAHC clipped 2.3 fils. KAMCO was unchanged at 92 fils and Kuwait Insurance Co tripped 1 fil. Gulf Insurance Co was down 16 fils at 594 fils and Al Imtiaz slipped 10 fils to 111 fils. Kuwait Real Estate fell 9.4 fils to 90 fils and National Real Estate Co gave up 6.5 fils after pushing 1.9 million shares.

Salhiya Real Estate dropped 8 fils and AREEC was down 4 fils at 151 fils. Mazaya Holding and Arkan erased 2.6 fils each. The market was largely downbeat during last week. The main index closed lower in three of the five sessions shedding 284 points week-on-week. It had tumbled 1,018 points so far during the month and is trading 766 pts lower year-to-date.

By John Mathews Arab Times Staff