Kuwait bourse drops in choppy trade; volume up

Humansoft Holding dips 69 fils; Zain gains

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 29: Kuwait stocks edged lower on Tuesday extending last session’s downtick. The price index fell 9.75 pts in choppy trade to 6899.45 points as selling dragged some of the counters into red while the banking majors and telecom shares eked modest gains.

The KSX 15 benchmark rose 2.87 pts to 991.62 points taking the month’s gains to 48 pts and weighted index edged 1.39 points higher. The volume turnover meanwhile rebounded after hitting 3-week low in the previous session. 85.89 million shares changed hands - a 30.4 pct surge from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in red. Telecommunications sector outpaced the rest with 0.60 pct gain and healthcare dived 6.69 percent, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, financial services accounted or the highest market share of 44.7 pct and real estate trailed with 22.33 percent contribution.

Among the notable performers, National Bank of Kuwait rose 3 fils on back of 1.45 million shares and Kuwait Finance Hose rallied 4 fils with brisk trading. Humansoft Holding dipped 69 pts to KD 4.050 extending Monday’s steep losses.

Zain climbed 5 fils with a volume of 5.5 million and Ooredoo followed suit to wind up at KD 1.195. Kuwait Telecommunications Co ( VIVA) inched 1 fil up and Agility stood pat at 884 fils .

Al Ahli Bank slipped 4 fil to 305 fils and Warba Bank trimmed 1 fil. The company’s second quarter profit soared 860.6 pct to KD 1.22 million from Q2 of 2016. In the f January-June period, profits clocked KD 2.52 million.

The market opened on a tepid note and meandered into red in early trade. The price index slipped further before bouncing back to peak at 6917.80 pts almost half way into the session. It dipped again to plumb the day’s lowest level of 6880.67 pts and clawed back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Jiyad jumped 9 pct to 52.1 fil and Al Mudon rallied 6 percent to stand next. Mowasat Hospitals Co dived 11.11 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Imtiaz Investment topped the volume with 12.5 million shares.

The market spread was nearly even. 51 stocks advanced and 50 closed lower. Of the 121 counters active on Tuesday, 20 closed flat. 3127 deals worth over KD 16 million were transacted – a 41.34 pct surge in value from the day before.

Jazeera Airways gained 15 fils and ALAFCO was up 7 fils at 372 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co dropped 17 fils to 635 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co gave up 3 fils. Equipment Holding Co eased 0.5 fil to 46.6 fils.

Thin

Kuwait Food Co ( Americana) rose 4 fils to KD 1.999 with thin trading while ACICO Industries and Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co ticked 1 fil up each. NICBM dialed up 2 fils to end at 177 fils.

Gulf Cable slipped 5 fils to 505 fils and National Industries Group clipped 2 fils. The company posted a profit of KD 2.09 million in Q2 against a loss of KD 4.75 million in the same period last year. In the first half, it logged a profit of KD 5.23 million.

Kuwait Foundry Co was flat at 300 fils and Napesco inched 1 fil into red. The company’s second quarter profits slid 26.8 pct to KD 1.73 million from same period in year before. During the first half , profits rose 6.9 percent to KD 4.04 million.

Educational Holding Group and Eyas Higher and Technical Education fell 5 fils each to 325 fils and 860 fils respectively whereas AWJ Holding added 3.3 fils. OSOS Holding dipped 7 fils to 116 fils.

Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co fell 1 fil to 57 fils and KGL

Logistics Co paused at 55.8 fils. Mezzan Holding jumped 25 fils to 839 fils extending Monday’s gains.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank and Commercial Bank were unchanged at 241 fils and 398 fils respectively and Almutahed gave up 2 fils to close at 426 fils.

Kuwait International Bank was flat at 243 fils and Burgan Bank ticked 1 fil higher. Boubyan Bank climbed 4 fils to 452 fils extending last session’s gains.

KIPCO held ground at 370 fils with razor thin volume and Securities House Co eased 0.2 fil. International Financial Advisors dialed up 0.8 fil and Kuwait Investment Co took in 2 fils. KMEFIC eased 1.5 fils to 27.5 fils.

KAMCO inched 0.1 fil into green and KFIC dialed up 2 fils. Bayan Investment Co trimmed 0.2 fil and Sokouk Holding closed 0.6 fil down at 50 fils. KFIC added 2 fils to wind up at 47 fils.

Noor Financial Investment Co rose 2.8 fils to 60.9 fils and Tamdeen Investment Co held ground at 310 fils. Bayan Investment Co gave up 0.2 fil and Kuwait Insurance Co was up 10 fils at 290 fils.

National Real Estate Co and Mazaya Holding Co clipped 1 fil each while Tamdeen Real Estate Co climbed 19 fils to 405 fils. Mabanee Co added 5 fils and Salhiya Real Estate Co dialed up 2 fils.

The market has been mixed so far during the week and has risen 13 points in last three sessions. It has rallied 50 points from the start of the month and is trading 20 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Aayan Leasing and Investment posted losses of KD 390,000 during the second quarter as against a loss of KD 235,000 in the same period last year. During the first half , the company’s earnings soared 544.2 percent year-on-year to KD 4.67 million

Kuwait Hotels’ second quarter profits jumped by 72.5 pct to KD 15,370 in as compared to KD 55,820 in the same period a year ago. During the first half of 2017, the earnings slid by 71.5 percent to KD 152,870 from the same period last year.

Kuwait Investment Co profits soared 158.3 percent to KD 2.97 million in the second quarter of 2017 from same period last year. In the January- June period, profits surged 283.6 pct year-on-year to KD 7.71 million.

Kuwait Real Estate Co’s net profits surged 51.2 pct year-on-year in the second quarter of 2017 to KD 1.49 million. In the first half , profits rose 10.5 percent to KD 3.16 million.

Mabanee Company posted a 1.55 pct rise in profits to KD 12.55 million for the second quarter from Q2 of previous year. In the first half , profits ticked 1 pct up to KD 24.61 million from corresponding period of 2016

Imtiaz Investment Group’s second quarter profits soared by a whopping 1,041 pct to KD 19.97 million from same period in 2016. During the first six months, profits surged 626.3% to KD 32.32 million.