Kuwaiti market extends gains, volume rebounds

KFH rallies 12 fils, KAMCO drops

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 7: Kuwait stocks pulled higher on Monday extending last session’s gains. The All Shares Index climbed 51.4 points to 5,720.59 pts helped by strong buying in some of the heavyweights.

The Premier Market jumped 66.75 points to 6,232 pts while Main Market rose 19.84 pts to 4,724 points shrinking the month’s losses to 4 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile bounced past the 100 million mark after wallowing at anemic levels in last few sessions. Over 130 million shares changed hands – a 80 pct surge from Sunday.

The sectors closed mostly in green turf. Telecommunications outpaced the rest with 1.97 pct jump while Consumer Goods shed 1.33 percent, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise banks topped with 51 million shares and the sector also pulled ahead in terms of value with KD 18.9 million.

Among the prime movers, Kuwait Finance House rallied 12 fils to 686 fils extending last session’s gains and the counter saw over 8 million shares change hands. National Bank of Kuwait sprinted 5 fils to 950 fils on back of over 2 million shares while Boubyan Bank climbed 7 fils to 562 fils.

Zain jumped 13 fils to 547 fils on back of 6.2 million shares while Ooredoo dialed up 2 fils to close at 715 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) rose 4 fils to 731 fils and Agility scaled 7 fils to settle at 741 fils. Humansoft Holding slipped 4 fils to KD 3.140 slight trimming last session’s gains.

The market opened firm and rose sharply in early trade as buying boosted some of the heavyweights. The main index sagged slightly before flitting between small gains and losses and revved up again in the final minutes to close with good gains.

Top gainer of the day, Bayan Investment Co rallied 17 pct to 41.3 fils and Energy Holding Co climbed 9.8 percent to stand next. KAMCO skidded 10 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Ahli United Bank topped the volume with 130 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s upswing, the market spread was skewed towards the winners. 70 stocks advanced whereas 33 closed lower. Of the 121 counters active on Monday, 18 closed flat. 5,712 deals worth KD 29.16 million were transacted during the session.

National Industries Group rose 3 fils to 226 fils on back of 3.7 million shares while Mezzan Holding was down 10 fils at 550 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co tripped 1 fil and Al Qurain Petrochemical took in 1 fil to settle at 309 fils. Integrated Holding Co too ticked 1 fil higher to 416 fils.

Jazeera Airways was flat at 990 fils and ALAFCO too did not budge from its earlier close of 266 fils. Mashaer Holding added 1.1 fil while Advanced Technology Co and Educational Holding Co paused at 900 fils and 315 fils respectively.

Kuwait Portland Cement Co soared 46 fils to KD 1.145 and Kuwait Cement Co added 2 fils before ending at 261 fils. Sharjah Cement Co ticked 0.1fils into green while Gulf Cement Co was up 1.5 fils at 55.5 fils. QIC gave up 5.4 fils before ending at 53.6 fils.

Kuwait Foundry Co

dived 29 fils

to 465 fils and ACICO Industries rose 4 fils. Al Kout Industries gained 10 fils and Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co added 3 fils. Equipment Holding inched 0.1 fil higher to 15.5 fils and Tahssilat clipped 2 fils.

Combined Group Contracting Co took in 1 fil and UPAC skidded 36 fils to close at 401 fils. Gulf Petroleum Investment Co inched 0.2 fil higher and Independent Petroleum Group tripped 1 fil. IFA Hotels and Resorts added 3 fils.

Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co inched 0.4 fil higher to 71.5 fils and KGL Logistics trimmed 0.4 fil. Inovest edged 0.5 fil into red and SPEC clipped 1 fil. KPPC paused at 51 fils and Gulf Cable gained 5 fils. Al Rai Media Group took in 1.9 fil.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank took in 2 fils on back of 8.3 million shares and Kuwait International Bank was up 3 fils at 270 fils with brisk trading. Burgan Bank dialed up 1 fil and Warba Bank climbed 3 fils to 252 fils.

Commercial Bank was unchanged at 500 fils with thin trading whereas Al Ahli Bank rose 4 fils to 300 fils. Al Mutahed gained 5 fils and Ahli United Bank sprinted 4 fils with brisk trading.

KIPCO was flat at 219 fils and Gulf Finance House ticked 0.4 fil up to 71.9 fils. National Investment Co and Kuwait

Investment Co paused at 125 fils and 136 fils respectively whereas FACIL dialed up 2 fils. Coast Investment Co inched 0.6 fil higher and Arzan added 0.2 fil.

Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) edged 0.5 fil into green and ALOLA followed suit. KMEFIC rose 0.9 fil on back of 1.9 million shares and Al Aman took in 1.5 fil. Securities House was unchanged at 42,6 fils and Al Mal Investment tripped 0.5 fil.

Bayan Investment Co climbed 6 fils to 41.3 fils and Osoul gave up 4 fils before ending at 70 fils. KFIC took in 1.3 fil and GIH fell 1.7 fil to 42.8 fils. Unicap trimmed 0.5 fil and Al Salam was up 1.3 fil at 31.1 fils. KSHC dialed up 1.5 fil.

KAMCO dipped 9.7 fils to 87.3 fils and Noor Financial Investment tripped 0.4 fil. Al Imtiaz added 2 fils and Kuwait Insurance Co shed 9 fils. First Takaful fell 2.5 fils to 40 fils. Mabanee Co eased 1 fil to 737 fils and National Real Estate dialed up 1 fil on back of 1.2 million shares.

The bourse has been upbeat so far during the week gaining 84 points in last two sessions. It has climbed 42 points from start of the month and is trading 643 pts higher year-to-date. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.