Kuwait stocks extend losses; volume jumps
Zain skids 13 fils, NAPESCO gains
KUWAIT CITY, Sept 9: Kuwait stocks swung into red on Monday as it extended it losses to second consecutive day. The All Shares Index skidded 71.91 pts in a broad decline to 5,863.38 points led by heavyweights as overall sentiment turned negative.
The Premier Market slid 97.18 points to 6,415.26 pts while Main Market was down 19.79 points at 4,783.72 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile rose for second day in row. Over 176 million shares changed hands – a 26 pct jump from Sunday.
Banking sector, the worst performer, dived 17.9 pct whereas Oil and Gas outperformed the rest with 22.6 percent gain. Volume wise, financial services topped with 63.5 million shares whereas banks scored in value with KD 24.17 million.
Among the prominent losers, National Bank of Kuwait skidded 12 fils to 967 fils after trading 3.4 million shares while Kuwait Finance House slid 12 fils to 729 fils with brisk trading and is down 19 fils so far during the month. Mabanee Co dived 13 fils to 764 fils.
Zain tumbled 13 fils to 559 fils after pushing 2.8 million shares at the counter while Ooredoo ticked 1 fil down to 719 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) was unchanged at 800 fils and logistics major Agility shed 16 fils to close at 741 fils with a volume of 2.8 million. Humansoft Holding paused at KD 3.170 off early highs.
The market opened weak and fell sharply in early trade. The main index continued to drift lower amid selling pressure mostly in some of the blue chips counters and plumbed the day’s lowest level of 5,846 pts almost half way into the session. It ticked up and moved sideways in the second half before closing with hefty losses.
Top gainer of the day, Al Rai Media Group soared 50 pct to 45.5 fils and NIH climbed 9.8 pct to stand next. Automated Systems Co skidded 10 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Ahli United Bank topped the volume with over 19 million shares.
Mirroring the day’s fall, the market spread was heavily skewed towards the losers. 16 stocks advanced whereas 85 closed lower. Of the 116 counters active on Monday, 15 closed flat. 7,354 deals worth 39.33 million were transacted during the session.
National Industries Group dipped 7 fils after pushing over 10 million shares during the session while Integrated Holding Co was down 10 fils at 397 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co fell 3 fils to 770 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co stood pat at 337 fils.
Jazeera Airways slipped 10 fils to 970 fils and ALAFCO gave up 4 fils to close at 259 fils. Inovest and Soor Fuel stood pat at 63 fils and 119 fils respectively whereas IFA Hotels and Resorts gave up 3.9 percent while SPEC tripped 1.1 fils.
Kuwait Portland Cement dropped 11 fils to KD 1.199 and Hilal Cement Co gained 4 fils. Ras Al Khaimah White Cement Co shed 4.9 fils and KPPC clipped 2.5 fils before settling at 52 fils. Salbookh Trading Co edged 0.9 fil lower to 43.4 fils and Gulf Petroleum Investment trimmed 0.5 fil.
NAPESCO bucked the trend with 50 fils jump to KD 1.100 and AAN gave up 1.3 fils to end at 17.2 fils. Equipment Holding Co tripped 0.8 fil while Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co dipped 7 fils to 398 fils.
Kuwait Gulf Links was unchanged at 76.5 fils and KGL Logistics dialed down 0.7 fil to close at 39.9 fils. Combined Group Contracting Co dropped 7 fils to 232 fils after trading 1.8 million shares.
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank slipped 5 fils to 295 fils after moving 8.4 million shares at the counter while Kuwait International Bank took in 1 fil on back of 12.3 million shares. Burgan Bank was down 4 fils at 331 fils.
Commercial Bank was flat at 500 fils whereas Al Ahli Bank climbed 5 fils to 320 fils with razor thin trading. Al Mutahed fell 3 fils to 328 fils and Warba Bank was down 5 fils at 244 fils. Ahli United Bank shed 6 fils with brisk trading.
KIPCO was flat at 225 fils off early lows with a volume of 1.6 million shares while Gulf Finance House ticked 0.5 fil higher to 73.9 fils. Kuwait Investment Co clipped 1 fil and Al Aman followed suit to close at 56 fils. Aayan Investment eased 1.4 fils to 56.4 fils.
National Investment Co slipped 5 fils to 126 fils whereas FACIL and Osoul Investment held ground at 195 fils and 71 fils respectively. Coast Investment Co trimmed 0.5 fil and Securities House dialed down 1.2 fils. International Financial Advisors inched 0.2 fil higher to 51.5 fils on back of 3.5 million shares.
Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) trimmed 0.6 fil and Al Mal Investment eased 0.3 fil to 13.3 fils after trading 2.8 million shares. Gulf Investment House clipped 2.5 fils and Unicap added 0.9 fil.
Noor Financial Investment fell 1.3 fils to 84.9 fils and Al Imtiaz fell 3 fils to 128 fils. Al Deera Holding inched 0.2 fil lower and Al Madina ticked 0.3 fil down 16.7 fils. Bayan Investment added 1.4 fils.
National Real Estate Co fell 2.3 fils to 80.2 fils while United Real Estate and MENA Holding clipped 1 fil each. Mazaya Holding fell 1.2 fils to 55.1 fils and AREEC shed 10 fils.
The bourse has been trending lower so far during the week shedding 91 points in last two sessions. The main index has slid 78 pts during so far during the month and is trading 784 pts higher year-to-date. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.