Kuwait equities extend losses, volume recedes

KFH sheds 8 fils, Agility gains

By John Mathews Arab Times Staff KUWAIT CITY, Sept 17: Kuwait stocks pulled lower on Tuesday extending its losses to fifth straight session. The All Shares Index slid 23.88 points in sluggish trading to 5,608.91 pts weighed by heavyweights even as the overall mood remained cautiously negative.

The Premier Market dropped 30.68 points to 6,069.89 pts taking the month’s losses to 458 points while Main Market was down 9.92 points at 4,716.90 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile shrank following Monday’s upswing. Over 110 million shares changed hands – down 31 pct from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in red. Telecommunications outshone the rest with 0.30 pct gain whereas basic materials shed 1.56 percent, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, banks topped with 52.8 million shares and the sector was also ahead in value with KD 22.2 million.

In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait slipped 6 fils to 928 fils with a volume of 3.6 million while Kuwait Finance House shed 8 fils after pushing 12.7 million shares at the counter. Al Qurain Petrochemical Co was down 14 fils at 321 fils.

Zain rose 3 fils to 530 fils on back of 7.3 million shares while Ooredoo clipped 2 fils to wind up at 714 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) gave up 6 fils before closing at 785 fils and Agility rose 4 fils with a volume of 1.7 million. Humansoft Holding ticked 1 fil higher to KD 3.061.

The market opened firm and nudged higher in early trade. The main index scaled the day’s highest level of 5,670 points and headed lower as sentiment turned sour. It continued to erode and bottomed at 5,572 pts past the mid-session before clawing back some of the losses in the final hour.

Top gainer of the day, International Resorts Co jumped 10 pct to 14.3 fils and UPAC sprinted 9.45 percent to stand next. Warbacap tumbled 24.24 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Ahli United Bank topped the volume with 25.59 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s drop, the losers outnumbered the winners. 34 stocks advanced whereas 59 closed lower. Of the 115 counters active on Tuesday, 22 closed flat. 6,518 deals worth KD 32.8 million were transacted during the session.

National Industries Group ticked 1 fil higher to 221 fils on back of 3.3 million shares while Integrated Holding Co shed 12 fils. SPEC rose 2.5 fils to 72.5 fils and IFA Hotels and Resorts stood pat at 47.9 fils. KCPC slipped 9 fils to 201 fils and KPPC trimmed 0.5 fil before ending at 53 fils.

Kuwait Cement Co slipped 6 fils to 265 fils while Kuwait Portland Cement and Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co paused at KD 1.195 and 397 fils respectively. Fujairah Cement Co was unchanged at 49 fils and Ras Al Khaimah White Cement Co dialed up 2 fils.

Jazeera Airways was unchanged at 967 fils and ALAFCO ticked 1 fil lower to 257 fils. KCPC shed 9 fils and KPPC edged 0.5 fil into red. IFA Hotels and Resorts held ground at 47.9 fils and Salbookh gave up 0.9 fil to close at 41 fils. Gulf Cable was down 6 fils at 413 fils.

Educational Holding Group was flat at 320 fils while Al Rai Media Group clipped 0.4 fil. Mashaer Holding tripped 0.6 fil whereas Equipment Holding and OSOS stood pat at 18.8 fils and 101 fils respectively. Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co ticked 0.7 fil up and KGL Logistics inched 0.1 fil up.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank was flat at 285 fils and Kuwait International Bank eased 1 fil to 268 fils. Burgan Bank fell 3 fils to 327 fils after trading over 4 million shares and Boubyan Bank gave up 4 fils.

Commercial Bank and Al Mutahed were flat at 500 fils and 325 fils respectively whereas Al Ahli Bank climbed 3 fils to 300 fils. Warba Bank dialed down 2 fils and Ahli United Bank inched 1 fil down with brisk trading.

KIPCO was flat at 223 fils after trading 2.2 million shares while Gulf Finance House took in 0.6 fil before ending at 71.8 fils. Kuwait Investment Co eased 1 fil to 138 fils whereas Coast Investment Co and Securities House trimmed 0.2 fil each. Arzan paused at 25.3 fils after trading over 2 million shares.

National Investment Co took in 2 fils with thin trading while Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) fell 2.7 fils to 92.3 fils. KMEFIC clipped 2 fils and Al Mal Capital inched 0.2 pct into green. Aayan Capital took in 0.3 fil on back of over 6 million shares.

Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) fell 2.7 fils to 92.3 fils after pushing 1.4 million shares whereas Osoul eased 0.1 fil. KFIC tripped 0.2 fil and Unicap edged 0.9 fil higher. Madar Finance rose 4 fils to 109 fils and Al Deera Holding stood pat at 12 fils.

Noor Financial Investment trimmed 0.1 fil and Tamdeen Investment was up 3 fils at 328 fils. Ektittab Holding gave up 1.3 fils and Asiya clipped 0.8 fil. Al Imtiaz was unchanged at 126 fils.

Mabanee Co ticked 1 fil higher to 725 fils while National Real Estate Co was flat at 80 fils. Salhiya Real Estate gave up 6 fils and Al Aqaria added 2.2 fils.

Mazaya Holding inched 0.4 fil higher to 53.7 fils and MENA gave up 0.7 fil with a volume of over 2 million.

The bourse has been downbeat so far during the week shedding 135 points in last three sessions. It has tumbled 333 pts so far during the month and is trading 529 pts higher year-to-date.

Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.