Kuwaiti stocks end week on tame note

Agility gains 6 fils, Ooredoo slips

By John Mathews Arab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 29: Kuwait stocks sagged on Thursday to wind up the week on a sour note. The All Shares Index slipped 9.18 points in wavy trading to 5,941.13 points weighed by some of the heavyweights even as the broader trend lacked direction.

The Premier Market dropped 14.52 points to 6,527.81 pts while Main Market inched 1.91 points lower to 4,789.35 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile ticked slightly up following Wednesday’s dip. Over 109 million shares changed hands – up almost 2 pct from the day before.

In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait eased 1 fil to 990 fils with a volume of 2.7 million while Burgan Bank slipped 3 fils to 348 fils after trading 1.8 million shares. Kuwait Finance House ticked 1 fil into red with a volume turnover of 748 fils and Humansoft Holding jumped 35 fils to KD 3.200.

Zain fell 2 fils to 565 fils after moving 2.6 million share at the counter while Ooredoo tripped 1 fil to settle at 717 fils. Kuwait Communications Co (VIVA) climbed 4 fils to 800 fils and logistics major Agility gave up 6 fils before closing at 755 fils with a volume of 2.6 million.

The market opened on a tame note and moved flattish in early trade. The main index scaled the day’s highest level of 5960 points and headed south as trading floor sentiment turned dull. It seesawed in narrow range and slipped into red in the final minutes before closing with small loss.

Top gainer of the day, Warbacap rallied 8.9 pct to 72 fils and OSOS rose 3.9 percent to stand next. Sanam Real Estate skidded 9.7 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Aayan topped the volume with over 13 million shares.

Despite the day’s downtick, the winners slightly outnumbered the losers. 46 stocks advanced whereas 42 closed lower. Of the 114 counters active on Thursday, 26 closed flat. 114 deals worth KD 20.3 million were transacted during the session.

National Industries Group was unchanged at 239 fils after retreating 13 fils so far during the month while Gulf Cable shed 11 fils before finishing at 436 fils. Kuwait Cement Co was unchanged at 274 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement skidded 8 fils to wind up at KD 1.202.

Jazeera Airways paused at 970 fils off early lows while ALAFCO was unchanged at 263 fils. Mashaer Holding added 2.6 fils and Muntazahat was up 1.9 fils at 60.4 fils. OSOS climbed 4 fils to 105 fils and Soor Fuel took in 2 fils before closing at 122 fils. Amar Finance ticked 1.9 fils into red.

Kuwait Cement Co was unchanged at 274 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement slipped 8 fils to KD 1.202. REMAL clipped 0.4 fil while Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co dialed up 2 fils before settling and Equipment Holding Co stood pat at 18.6 fils. Fujairah Cement Co added 2 fils.

Combined Group Contracting Co ticked 1 fil higher to 239 fils on back of 1.4 million shares and Gulf Petroleum Investment ticked 0.2 fils up. KPPC paused at 53.9 fils and KCPC too did not budge from its earlier close of 200 fils. QIC dipped 6.9 fils to 72 fils.

Kuwait Foundry Co gained 7 fils and NICBM rose 3 fils to 180 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co took in 1 fil to finish at 72 fils and KGL Logistics eased 0.3 fil to 39.1 fils. Warbacap climbed 5.9 fils to 72 fils and Inovest edged 0.4 fil higher to 66.9 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank took in 1 fil and Kuwait International Bank was unchanged a 274 fils. Boubyan Bank tripped 2 fils to end at 571 fils and Warba Cap inched 1 fil into red.

Commercial Bank was unchanged at 501 fils and Al Ahli Bank took in 1 fil with thin trading. Ahli United Bank gave up 2 fils after trading a whopping 10.9 million shares while Al Mutahed held ground at 335 fils.

KIPCO was f;at at 223 fils after pushing 1.5 million shares while Gulf Finance House inched 0.1fil higher. Kuwait Investment Co was flat at 140 fils after trading 1.3 million shares while FACIL took in 1 fil. International Financial Advisors edged 0.9 fil higher to 42.9 fils.

National Investment Co tripped 1 fils and Coast Investment Co dialed up 0.7 fil on back of 1.6 million shares. Securities House ticked 0.2 fil higher whereas Arzan and ALOLA ambled 0.1 fil up. Al Aman skimmed 0.3 fil and ALOLA ticked 0.1 fil into green.

Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) eased 0.4 fil to 97.9 fils and KMEFIC closed 0.5 fil higher. KFIC ticked 0.1 fil into red while Al Deera Holding and Unicap stagnated at 12.5 fils and 44 fils respectively. Bayan Investment Co fell 2.4 fils to 40 fils.

Noor Financial Investment Co took in 1 fil and KSHC rose 0.9 fil to 41 fils. Al Imtiaz was unchanged at 131 fils and Kuwait Insurance Co gave up 5 fils. Warba Insurance Co skimmed 2 fils to end at 67 fils.

Mabanee Co was flat at 770 fils and Kuwait Real Estate Co added 1 fil on back of 1.7 million shares. United Real Estate paused at 62 fils and Salhiya Real Estate gained 4 fils. National Real Estate Co inched 0.3 fil higher and IRC skimmed 0.6 fil.

The bourse was mixed during the week. The main index closed lower in two of the five session skidding 59 points week-on-week. The main index has slid 177 pts from start of the month and is trading 854 pts higher year-to-date. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region