Kuwait slips into red in choppy trade; volume up

Ooredoo tumbles 60 fils; Humansoft Holding gains

KUWAIT CITY, Sept 14: Kuwait stocks headed south on Thursday to end the week on a sour note. The bourse dropped 11.06 pts in choppy trade to 6,913.86 points even as some of the heavyweights shone. The overall trend however was mixed.

The KSX 15 gauge jumped 10.8 pts to 1,027 pts taking the month’s gains to 43 points while weighted index added 2.32 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile surged to a fresh multi-month high. 169.57 million shares changed hands — a 52.2 pct rise from the day before.

The sectors diverged. Technology outshone the rest with 1.90 pct gain and parallel market was down 1.33 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services accounted for the highest market share of 31.17 pct and real estate trailed with 24.10 percent contribution.

Among prime movers, National Bank of Kuwait climbed 8 fils to 786 fils on back of 3.2 million shares and Kuwait Finance House rallied 13 fils to 617 fils with brisk trading. KIPCO slid 9 fils to 349 fils and Eyas For Higher and Technical Education dived 40 fils.

Zain gained 13 fils on back of 21.5 million shares and Ooredoo was down 10 fils at KD 1.180 extending Wednesday’s steep drop. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) fell 4 fils to 805 fils and Agility rallied 23 fils with a volume of 3.7 million.

Burgan Bank slipped 6 fils to 366 fils while Commercial Bank of Kuwait closed flat. The bank has posted a second quarter profit of KD 1.2 million — down 67.9 pct from same period last year. During the JanuaryJune period earnings dropped 82.7 percent to KD 1.99 million.

The market opened firm but fell sharply in early trade. The main index pulled up and traded choppy well past the mid-session as sentiment remained mixed. It headed south again amid brief selling bout and bottomed at 6,892.71 points before clawing back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) rose 5.88 pct to 108 fils and Kuwait Insurance Co climbed 5.45 pct to stand next. Kuwait Cable Vision Co tumbled 14.29 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Zain topped the volume with 21.55 million shares.

Despite the day’s drop, the market spread was almost even. 54 stocks advanced while 53 closed lower. Of the 125 counters active on Thursday, 18 closed flat. 6,395 deals worth KD 42.79 million were transacted — a 61.6 pct surge in value from the day before.

National Industries Group was flat at 148 fils after trading over 7 million shares and Kuwait Foundry Co took in 1 fil. Kuwait Cement Co and Kuwait Portland Cement Co paused at 465 fils and 975 fils respectively whereas Al Kout Industries gained 16 fils.

Jazeera Airways inched 1 fil down to 589 fils and ALAFCO stood pat at 369 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co climbed 6 fils and Equipment Holding Co eased 0.1 fil to 45.5 fils.

Jumped

Humansoft Holding jumped 30 fils to KD 4.080 and NAPESCO dialed down 1 fil. Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co fell 0.5 fil to KGL Logistics Co gave up 0.9 fil. AWJ Holding clipped 0.2 fil.

Combined Group Contracting Co gained 8 fils and UPAC’ sank 58 fils. The company’s second quarter earnings rose 19.3 percent year-onyear to KD 2.29 million. During the first half, the profit increased 16.7 percent to KD 4.47 million.

OSOS was up 3 fils at 118 fils and Alrai Media Group took in 2 fils. The company recorded a 25.2 percent year-on-year drop fall in profits for the second quarter. In the JanuaryJune period, the profits dived 44.2 percent to KD 1.64 million.

In the banking sector, Commercial Bank and Al Ahli Bank were unchanged at 398 fils and 309 fils respectively whereas Al Mutahed inched 1 fil into red.

Kuwait International Bank dialed up 2 fils on back of 2.6 million shares and Boubyan Bank gave up 3 fils extending last session’s losses. Warba Bank eased 1 fil to 262 fils.

National Investment Co took in 2 fils with a volume of over 3 million and International Financial Advisors held ground at 38 fils. Osoul Investment and KMEFIC slipped 3.9 fils each whereas Al Salam Investment Co ticked 0.2 fil higher.

Bayan Investment Co and Sokouk Holding took in 0.5 fil each whereas Al Madina Investment Co fell 2.3 fils to 43.1 fils. Ektittab Holding eased 1.7 fils to 35 fils and KFIC stood pat at 49.9 fils.

Noor Financial Investment Co edged 0.9 fil into green and Amwal Investment trimmed 0.5 fil. Al Imtiaz Investment Co dropped 4 fils and Ahliea Insurance Co stalled at 420 fils.

Mabanee Co rose 5 fils to 818 fils and National Real Estate Co was up 6 fils at 138 fils. Kuwait Real Estate Co took in 0.7 fil on back of 5.8 million shares and United Real Estate Co dipped 11.6 fils. Mazaya Holding ticked 1 fil up to 120 fils.

The market was mixed during the week. The main index closed higher in three of the five sessions and gained 16 points week-on-week. It has climbed 21 pts from the start of the month and is trading 20.28 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Injazzat Real Estate Development Company registered a 32.3 pct drop to KD 511,900 for the second quarter of 2017 from Q2 of 2016. In the first six months, the profits soared 36.1 percent to KD 2.86 million.

First Takaful Insurance posted a 53.45 pct in profits to KD 753,970 in the second quarter of 2017 from the same period last year. During the first six months of 2017, the profits surged 104.1 percent to KD 1.7 million. United Real Estate ’s second quarter profits dropped 73.3 pct year-on-year to KD 280,280. In the January — June period, the earnings was down 52 pct to KD 1.44 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.

Gulf Insurance Group’s earnings dived 27.6 pct year-on-year during the second quarter to KD 2.77 million. During the first six months of 2017, the profits dropped 21.6 percent to KD 5.59 million.

National International Holding Co recorded a 66.2 percent dip in the second quarter profit to KD 828,500 from same period last year. In the first half of 2017, the profits tumbled 56 percent to KD 1.2 million.