Kuwait kicks-off week on sluggish note; volume dips
Mezzan Holding jumps 10 fils; Ooredoo slumps
KUWAIT CITY, June 10: Kuwait stocks inched lower on Sunday as market kicked off week on a sluggish note. The All Share index eased 1.25 points to close at 4,804.24 points.
The Premier Market index fell 3.33 points to close at 4,873.99 points whereas the Main Market edged up 2.52 points. The volume turnover meanwhile pulled lower as 26.6 million shares changed hands, a drop of 27.40 percent from the previous session.
The sectors mostly closed higher as consumer goods outshone with 1.09 percent gain while telecommunication dropped 0.90 percent to end as the top loser of the day.
The heaviest-traded sector, financial services notched the highest market share of 32.43 percent and banks trailed far behind with 22.99 percent contribution.
The best performing stock of the day was National Industries Co, which rose 7.27 percent while Arabi Holding Group Co advanced 5.57 percent to stand next. Kuwait Cable Vision Co plummeted 73.33 percent to end as the top loser. The heaviest-traded stock, Zain slipped 1.02 percent on the back of 2.4 million shares.
Among the notable movers, Humansoft Holding surged 80 fils and Mezzan Holding Co jumped 10 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co tumbled 10 fils to KD 0.833 while Agility lost 3 fils, erasing its gains in the previous session. Mabanee Co added 2 fils while Kuwait Projects Co and National Industries Group gained 1 fil each to close at KD 0.238 and KD 0.151 respectively.
KAMCO rose 5.26 percent while GFH Financial Group was up 0.96 percent. Kuwait Foundry Co and Alimtiaz Investment Group advanced 1.55 percent and 1.56 percent respectively.
Telecommunications was down as Ooredoo slumped 15 fils, extending last session losses to close at KD 0.855. VIVA, however, rose 4 fils to KD 0.695.
Banking shares gained slightly as NBK climbed 2 fils after trading 1.4 million shares while AUB and Boubyan Bank rose 1 fil to stand at KD 0.175 and KD 0.511 respectively. KFH and Gulf Bank trimmed 2 fils each whereas KIB and Burgan Bank were unchanged. CBK and AlMutahed paused at KD 0.500 and KD 0.249.
The market opened on a strong note and edged higher in early trade. The index continued to swing between small gains and losses in another choppy day of trading. The bourse, however, tumbled in the final moments to head south.
Real estate sector saw modest gains, led by National Real Estate Co, which rose 1.90 percent and First Dubai Real Estate Co was up 1.94 percent. United Real Estate Co and Kuwait Business Town Real Estate Co gained 0.88 percent and 0.95 percent respectively. Arkan AlKuwait Real Estate Co tumbled 2.38 percent to 78 fils whereas Kuwait Real Estate Co slipped 0.43 percent on the back of 1.6 million shares.
Osos Holding Co closed 5.26 percent lower while Sokouk Holding Co shed 4.04 percent. Al-Mazaya Holding Co sank 1.11 percent and International Resorts Co fell 3.72 percent. MENA Real Estate Co gave up 1.79 percent whereas Ajwan Gulf Real Estate Co rose 0.46 percent to 22 fils.
Mirroring the day’s downtick, the losers outnumbered the winners as 41 stocks closed lower whereas 40 advanced. Of the 103 counters active on Sunday, 19 were unchanged. 1,634 deals worth KD 6.3 million were transacted, a 42.0 percent drop in value from the previous session.
Oula Fuel Marketing Co and Soor Fuel Marketing Co lost 2 fils apiece to 121 fils and 120 fils respectively. National Cleaning Co dipped 2.90 fils in thin trading while Combined Group Contracting Co eased 3 fils to 416 fils.
Heavy Engineering Industrise and Ship Building Co fell 2 fils and Commercial Facilities Co was down by the same amount. KGL and Danah Alsafat Foodstuff Co lost 0.92 percent and 3.23 percent respectively. Manazel Holding trimmed 4.08 percent on the back of 1.4 million shares whereas Arzan Financial Group plunged 4.68 percent.
Senergy Holding shed 3.85 percent while Qurain Petrochemical Co eased 0.30 percent to KD 0.332. Ekittitab Holding Co plunged 3.26 percent and Sultan Center Co inched 1.39 percent lower to 71 fils.
The market was bullish last week as the index closed higher in all five sessions. It has gained 69.8 points from the start of the month and trading 25.03 percent lower so far this year. Boursa Kuwait is the second largest market in the region with 175 listed stocks.