Kuwaiti shares shrink; Abu Dhabi surges

Gulf Stocks: National Investments Co slid to its lowest since Aug 6
DUBAI: Kuwaiti shares tumbled to their lowest level since April after Burgan Bank SAK became the country's latest company to report lower third-quarter earnings.
The Kuwait Stock Exchange Index fell 2 per cent to 6,918.40. The measure, which was down for a sixth day, has declined 5.7 per cent since Nov. 5 and 11 per cent this year.

"Recently index heavyweight Agility announced pretty flat third-quarter numbers and given that it was trading near a high, it's not surprising the stock is correcting," said Ali Khan, head of cash-equity trading at Dubai-based Arqaam Capital Ltd. There are no strong catalysts to push the index higher, he said, and there isn't a lot of analyst coverage to give investors the opportunity to "take advantage of any possible attractive valuations."

Agility tumbled 3.6 per cent to 1,080 fils, bringing its losses to 13 per cent since it reported a third-quarter profit of 40.5 million dinars ($141.9 million) on Nov. 10.
Burgan Bank SAK said its third-quarter profit slumped 91 per cent to 1.7 million dinars, without giving a reason. The shares fell 4.1 per cent to 355 fils, the lowest level since Sept. 15.

National Investments Co. slid to its lowest since Aug. 6, retreating 6.2 per cent to 380 fils. The company posted a net loss of 6.5 million dinars on Nov. 10.

Qatar's DSM 20 Index lost 1.2 per cent, the Dubai Financial Market General Index slipped 0.1 per cent and Bahrain's measure fell 0.6 per cent. Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index declined 0.6 per cent to 6,255.75 at 1:41 p.m. in the kingdom.

Oman's MSM30 Index advanced 0.5 per cent and Abu Dhabi's gauge gained 0.2 per cent. -Agencies