Kuwait equities close higher in choppy trade
Mabanee Co rallies 8 fils; Al Ahli Bank slips
KUWAIT CITY, Aug 8: Kuwait stocks closed higher on Wednesday as it continued its winning spree to sixth straight session. The All Shares Index rose 8.1 pts in choppy session to 5,287.15 pts helped by strong buying in select counters.
The Premier Market climbed 9.15 points to 5,466.26 pts while Main Market was up 6.2 points at 4,961.89 points. The volume turnover meanwhile rose for fourth straight session. Over 176 million shares changed hands — a 10 pct increase from the day before.
The sectors closed mostly in the green zone. Technology outshone the rest with a whopping 8 percent gain whereas oil and gas shed 1.12 pct, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise, financial services notched the highest market share of 57 pct and real estate trailed with 15.97 percent contribution.
In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait rose 3 fils to 832 fils taking the month’s gains to 22 fils while Gulf Bank inched 1 fil higher on back of 3.7 million shares. Mabanee Co rallied 8 fils to 696 fils extending an identical rise in the previous session.
Zain ticked 1 fil up to 500 fils after trading 4.7 million shares and Ooredoo scaled 4 fils to wind up at 800 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co ( VIVA) inched 1 fil higher to 734 fils while Agility was flat at 904 fils and is up 61 fils from start of the month.
Kuwait Finance House stood pat at 612 fils with a volume of over 3 million and Boubyan Bank gave up 3 fils. The bank’s second quarter earnings rose 17.6 pct to KD 13.18 million.
Choppy
The market opened on a choppy note and moved sideways in early trade. The main index edged higher amid buying in select counters and peaked at 5,290 points almost half way into the session. It slipped thereafter to plumb the day’s lowest of 5,279 points and clawed back in the final hour to close with modest gains.
Top gainer of the day, Ras Al Khiamah White Cement Co soared 12 pct to 70 fils and Sanam Real Estate climbed 9.8 pct to stand next. KAMCO slid 9 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Aayan Real Estate topped the volume with over 50 million shares.
Reflecting the day’s uptick the market spread was heavily skewed towards the winners. 73 stocks advanced whereas 38 closed lower. Of the 129 counters active on Wednesday, 18 closed flat. 6,009 deals worth KD 25.2 million were transacted — a down 32.38 pct in value from the day before.
National Industries Group, the flagship company of the Kharafi Group, rallied 4 fils on back of 4.9 million shares and Mezzan Holding dialed up 2 fils to close at 720 fils.
Boubyan Petrochemical Co paused at KD 1.025 and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co added 3 fils on back of 1.8 million shares. KCPC climbed 6 fils to 241 fils and KPPC added 1.7 fils on back of over 15 million shares.
Jazeera Airways was flat at 750 fils and ALAFCO climbed 5 fils with a volume of over 1 million. Kuwait National Cinema Co gained 8 fils with thin trading and Equipment Holding Co edged 0.6 fil higher to 28.7 fils.
Kuwait Foundry Co and NICBM were held ground at 203 fils and 175 fils respectively whereas ACICO inched 1 fil higher to 238 fils. Automated Systems Co gained 10 fils and EK Holding took in1 fil to close at 337 fils.
Gulf Cable climbed 9 fils to 394 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement shed 33 fils. Humansoft Holding slumped 50 fils to KD 3.440 while NAPESCO shed 25 fils. Al Rai Media Group dialed up 0.4 fils and Inovest rose 3.4 fils to 89.5 fils.
Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co inched 1 fil higher to 112 fils and KGL Logistics trimmed 0.3 fil. Combined Group Contracting Co was down 3 fils to 418 fils. Mashaer Holding close 0.4 fils in green. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co ticked 1 fil up.
In the banking sector, Burgan Bank and Kuwait International Bank were flat at 284 fils and 259 fils respectively whereas Warba Bank and Ahli United Bank trimmed 1 fil each.
Commercial Bank climbed 5 fils to 525 fils. Al Ahli Bank dipped 15 fils to 314 fils. Al Mutahed was down 3 fils at 303 fils.
KIPCO was unchanged at 231 fils and Gulf Finance House dialed up 2 fils. Kuwait Investment Co fell 3 fils to 130 fils whereas Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) and Ektittab Holding stood pat at 100 fils and 25.5 fils respectively.
Bayan Investment Co and Al Madina tripped 0.4 fil each whereas National Investment Co was unchanged at 92.6 fils. Coast Investment Co added 0.9 fils and Securities House Co ticked 0.1 fils into green. Amwal Investment inched 0.4 fil into green.
KAMCO dipped 7 fils to 70 fils and Al Mal Investment clipped 0.2 fil. Unicap rose 3 fils to 60 fils and Al Deera Holding closed 0.8 fil higher at 18.3 fils. Noor Financial Investment Co dialed up 1.2 fils to end at 56.6 fils.
National Real Estate took in1 fil while Salhiya Real Estate gave up 2 fils to end at 328 fils. Mazaya Holding fell 0.9 fil to 88 fils.
The market has been buoyant so far during the week climbing 81 points in last four sessions and has rallied 120 points from start of the month. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.