Kuwait market retreats ahead of FTSE inclusion

NBK dips 20 fils, Mabanee ticks up

KUWAIT CITY, Sept 23: Kuwait stocks headed south on Sunday after winding up the previous week on a buoyant note. The All Shares Index slid 54.33 pts in a sluggish session to 5,093.33 pts amid profit booking. The last session saw brisk buying as investors chased heavyweights ahead of the Boursa Kuwait’s entry into FTSE Russell Index on Monday.

The Premier Market tumbled 74 pts to 5,288.75 points paring the month’s gains to 27 points while Main Market was down 18.14 pts at 4,738 points. The volume turnover meanwhile slumped sharply following Thursday’s surge. Over 102 million shares changed hands – a 70 pct drop from the previous session.

The sectors closed mostly in red. Technology out paced the rest with 3.12 pct jump whereas telecommunications shed 2 percent, the biggest loser of the day. Volumewise, banks notched the highest market share of 42 pct and real estate trailed with 25 percent contribution.

Among the notable losers, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait dropped 20 fils to 810 fils after trading over 9 million shares while Kuwait Finance House shed 10 fils with brisk trading. Boubyan Petrochemical Co dived 22 fils to KD 1.026.

Zain dipped 12 fils to 470 fils after trading over 5 million shares and Ooredoo was down 13 fils at 765 fils erasing an identical gain in the previous session. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) shed 10 fils and Agility slid 17 fils to 836 fils with a volume of over 1 million.

The market opened firm and edged lower in early trade. The main index continued to drift into red till almost half way into the session and moved sideways thereafter. It slipped further in the final minutes before closing with hefty losses.

Top gainer of the day, Mena Holding rallied 5.7 pct to 25.6 fils and Arzan climbed 3.5 percent to stand next. Al Eid skidded 14.2 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Taamer topped the volume with 17.9 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s slump, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 29 stocks advanced whereas 64 closed lower. Of the 113 counters active on Sunday, 20 closed flat. 4,218 deals worth KD 26.9 million were transacted – a 83 pct slide in value from the day before.

National Industries Group ticked 1 fil up on back of 2.8 million shares and Mezzan Holding scaled 5 fils to wind up at 674 fils. Integrated Holding Co gained 10 fils whereas Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co gave up 5 fils.

Kuwait Portland Cement was unchanged at KD 1.050 and Kuwait Foundry Co fell 3 fils to 192 fils. Equipment Holding Co tripped 1.7 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co slipped 5 fils to 375 fils. KPPC stood pat at 59.7 fils and Mashaer Holding ticked 1 fil into red.

Automated Systems Co rose 4 fils and Humansoft Holding dialed up 2 fils. The company’s net profit grew 9 pct to KD 6.57 million during the second quarter of 2018.

Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co slipped 3.7 fils to 96.3 fils and KGL Logistics inched 0.3 fil higher. Al Qurain Petrochemical Co dialed up 2 fils and NICBM climbed 5 fils to 170 fils. ALAFCO dropped 6 fils to 330 fils and Al Rai Media Group was down 4.4 fils at 52.6 fils. KPPC held ground at 59.7 fils and Inovest dialed up 0.2 fil higher. Kuwait National Cinema Co shed 9 fils and Gulf Cable added 3 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank and Kuwait International Bank clipped 1 fil each to close at 251 fils and 241 fils respectively whereas Ahli United Bank climbed 7 fils to 215 fils. Warba Bank and Burgan Bank fell 4 fils each to close at 234 fils and 250 fils respectively.

Al Ahli Bank rose 3 fils to 295 fils and Al Mutahed stood pat at 300 fils. Boubyan Bank dipped 7 fils to 219 fils after trading 1.2 million shares and Commercial Bank was not traded during the session.

KIPCO eased 1 fil to 219 fils and Gulf Finance House dialed up 2.6 fils. Kuwiat Investment Co fell 2 fils to

120 fils whereas International Financial Advisors and Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) paused at 24.8 fils and 104 fils respectively.

National Investment Co inched 0.1 fil up to 86 fils and Coast Investment Co dialed up 0.5 fil. KMEFIC slipped 2.5 fils while Bayan Investment Co and Al Deera Holding trimmed 0.5 fil respectively. Unicap fell 1.2 fils and Al Mal Investment ticked 0.3 fil into green.

Noor Financial Investment Co was flat at 51.9 fils whereas Tamdeen Investment Co skidded 20 fils to 280 fils. Amwal Investment trimmed 0.7 fil and Al Imtiaz gave up 3 fils. Gulf Insurance slipped 4 fils to 626 fils and Warba Insurance Co shed 8 fils. Wethaq Takaful was flat at 26 fils.

Mabanee Co ticked 1 fil up to 641 fils and Kuwait Reaal Estate Co tripped 0.3 fil. United Real Estate Co fell 0.5 fil to 64.5 fils and Salhiya Real Estate fell 3 fils. National Real Estate inched 1 fil up to 101 fils.

The market trended down for most part of last week. The main index closed lower in four of the five sessions but added 8 points week-onweek and is down 38 points from start of the month. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.