Kuwaiti market extends losses in choppy trading

NBK slips 6 fils, Ooredoo gains

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, Sept 30: Kuwait stocks swung lower on Monday extending the losses to third straight session. The All Shares Index dropped 17.4 points in choppy session to 5,678.70 pts dragged by some of the banking stocks even as the overall mood remained fickle.

The Premier Market dropped 24.95 points to 6,174.78 pts taking the month’s losses to 353 points while Main Market ticked 1.78 pts higher to 4,713.82 points. The volume turnover meanwhile ticked higher following Sunday’s drop. Over 102 million shares changed – a 26 pct surge from the day before.

The sectors closed mixed. Oil and Gas outperformed the rest with 1.63 pct jump whereas Banks shed 0.54 percent, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise Financial Services topped with 28.6 million shares whereas banks were ahead in terms of value with KD 9.2 million.

Among the notable losers, National Bank of Kuwait extended Sunday’s losses with 6 fils dip to 947 fils after trading 2.9 million shares while Kuwait Finance House was down 4 fils at 675 fils and the counter saw 2.8 million shares change hands. Humansoft Holding however sprinted 47 fils to KD 3.125.

Zain was flat at 538 fils off early highs and is down 27 fils from start of the month while Ooredoo climbed 6 fils to 726 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) tripped 1 fil and Agility gave up 5 fils before closing at 719 fils with a volume of over 1 million. Integrated Holding Co fell 3 fils to 409 fils.

The market opened firm and edged higher in early trade. The main index peaked at 5,702 points and headed lower as sentiment turned weak. It drifted sideways and plumbed the day’s lowest level of 5,671 points past the midsession before clawing back slightly to close small losses.

Top gainer of the day, Taamer rallied 11.25 pct to 20.6 fils and Al Rai Media Group climbed 9.6 pct to stand next. Amwal skidded 20 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and ERESCO topped the volume with 17.7 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s losses, the losers outnumbered the gainers. 42 stocks advanced whereas 56 closed lower. Of the 121 counters active on Monday, 23 closed flat. 4,757 deals worth KD 19.1 million were transacted during the session.

National Industries Group eased 1 fil to 225 fils and Mezzan Holding clipped 2 fils before ending at 57 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co climbed 8 fils to 764 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co stood pat at 315 fils. Gulf Cable skidded 20 fils to 471 fils after pushing 3.9 million shares at the counters.

Jazeera Airways sprinted 22 fils to 995 fils and ALAFCO added 3 fils before closing at 268 fils. OSOS ticked 0.8 fil higher to 100 fils and Independent Petroleum Group jumped 22 fils to 460 fils. Salbookh tripped 1.3 fils and AAN inched 0.2 fil into green.

Kuwait Portland Cement Co took in 1 fil to close at KD 1.101 and Kuwait Cement Co was flat at 260 fils. Sharjah Cement Co shed 5.8 fils and Gulf Cement

Co trimmed 0.6 fil before closing at 55.9 fils. Ras Al Khaimah Cement Co gave up 3.5 fils to close at 58.5 fils.

Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co took in 0.1 fil and KGL Logistics added 0.5 fil. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co rose 4 fils to 406 fils and Equipment Holding eased 0.1 fil to 16.2 fils. KCPC paused at 210 fils and KPPC ticked 0.6 fil higher to 51.9 fils.

Kuwait Foundry Co skidded 20 fils to 475 fils and ACICO Industries was up 4 fils at 139 fils. Gulf Petroleum Investment trimmed 0.5 fil and IFA Hotels and Resorts slipped 6.4 fils to 45.4 fils. EK Holding gained 20 fils and QIC inched 0.1 fil higher.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank tripped 1 fil after moving 6.6 shares during the session while Kuwait International Bank and Burgan Bank dialed up 1 fil each to end at 271 fils and 317 fils respectively. Boubyan Bank was unchanged at 554 fils.

Commercial Bank and Al Ahli Bank stood pat at 500 fils and 305 fils respectively whereas Al Mutahed was down 7 fils at 312 fils. Warba Bank dialed in 1 fil and Ahli United Bank fell 3 fils to 268 fils after trading 4.8 million shares.

KIPCO tripped 1 fil and Gulf Finance House edged 0.9 fil into red. Kuwait Investment Co clipped 1 fil while FACIL and Securities House dialed down 2 fils

each. International Financial Advisors ticked 1 fil lower and Arzan inched 1 fil into green.

Kuwait Financial Centre ( Markaz) trimmed 0.6 fil while National Investment Co and Aayan stood pat at 125 fils and 56.2 fils respectively. Coast Investment Co gave up 0.4 fil and GIH was down 5.3 fils at 44 fils. ALOLA fell 1.2 fils to 30.6 fils

KAMCO slipped 3.5 fils to 95 fils and Unicap edged 0.9 fil into green. Bayan Investment tripped 1 fil and KFIC eased 0.1 fil each to 70.1 fils. Osoul ticked 0.3 fil down and Ektittab Holding held ground at 16.6 fils.

Noor Financial Investment Co dropped 4.5 fils to 82.5 fils and KSHC gave up 3.1 fils. Amwal slipped 9 fils to 36 fils and Warba Insurance dialed up 1.4 fils. KMEFIC rose 3 fils on back of 3.3 million shares.

Mabanee Co ticked 1 fil higher to 764 fils whereas Tamdeen Real Estate and Kuwait Real Estate stood pat at 278 fils and 80.2 fils respectively. United Real Estate Co clipped 0.7 fil and Salhiya Real Estate added 4 fils..

The bourse has been weak so far during the week shedding 33 pts in last two sessions. It has skidded 252 pts from start of the month and is trading 600 pts higher year-to-date. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.