By: Mohamed Farouk   

Mubasher: Boursa Kuwait closed Monday’s trading session in the red zone for the second session in a row and in line with Kuwait government's recent announcement of initial tests showing three coronavirus (COVID-19) cases arriving from Iran.      

The All-Share and Premier markets slipped by 1.6% and 1.73%, respectively, while the Main and BK 50 indices shed by 1.25% and 1.27%, respectively.

Turnover soared by 143.6% on Monday to stand at KWD 45.43 million when compared to KWD 18.65 million a day earlier. Similarly, the trading volume surged by 88.6% to 214.81 million shares from 113.93 million.

The technology segment led 11 decliners with 9.87%, followed by the telecom and the real estate instruments with 2.77% and 2.03%, respectively, whereas no gainers were registered.

Tamdeen Investment was the top loser with 9.91%, whereas Future Kid Entertainment and Real Estate Company topped the winners with 5.83%.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) recorded the highest turnover of KWD 8.37 million, the stock was down 1.49%, while Ahli United Bank (AUB) led the trading activity through the exchange of 7.85 million shares, the stock slid 2.11%.

Commenting on Monday's session, capital market analyst Ibrahim Al Filkawy told Mubasher that the impact of China's new coronavirus on health and economy is serious.

The analyst highlighted that several countries have shut trade with China which is the largest exporter of nearly 90% of goods. He added, while several countries raised their alert level to the highest and others closed their borders with neighbouring countries, some people still underestimate the impact of the fast-spreading virus which is unacceptable.