Kuwait ‘ekes’ modest gains in volatile trade
KFH rallies 7 fils, Mabanee slips
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 15: Kuwait stocks eked modest gains on Tuesday after slipping into a shallow trough in the previous session. The All Shares Index climbed 13.17 pts in volatile session to 5,729.96 points paced by some of the heavyweights even as the overall mood remained fickle.
The Premier Market climbed 20.21 points to 6,246.13 points taking the month’s gains to 72 points while Main Market eased 1.4 pts to 4,723.6 points. The volume turnover meanwhile rose slightly following last session’s rebound. Over 112 million shares changed hands – a 4.6 pct rise from the day before.
The sectors closed mostly in green. Consumer Goods outshone the rest with 1.4 pct gain whereas Technology skidded 10 percent, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, Financial Services topped with 44.6 million shares while Bank were ahead in value with KD 8.9 million.
In the individual shares, Kuwait Finance House rallied 7 fils to 689 fils on back of 3.4 million shares whereas National Bank of Kuwait and Mabanee Co gave up 3 fils each to close at 946 fils and 751 fils respectively. Humansoft Holding slid 25 fils to KD 3.165 trimming the month’s gains to 40 fils.
Zain rose 3 fils to 554 fils on back of 2.3 million shares while Ooredoo was down 5 fils at 713 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) ticked 1 fil higher to 744 fils and Agility added 4 fils to settle at 747 fils and has climbed 28 fils so far during the month.
The market opened on a tame note and edged slightly lower in early trade. The main index headed north before pulling lower again to bottom at 5,713 points past the mid-session. It revved up thereafter amid spurt in buying in some of the counters and closed with modest gains.
Top gainer of the day, AGHC rallied 14.7 percent to 117 fils and Tijara sprinted 11.4 pct to stand next. KMEFIC skidded 10 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Kuwait Real Estate topped the volume with 18.3 million shares.
Reflecting the day’s gains, the winners outnumbered the losers. 59 stocks advanced whereas 44 closed lower. Of the 121 counters active on Tuesday, 18 closed flat. 4,469 deals worth KD 112.8 million were transacted during the session.
National Industries Group eased 1 fils to 227 fils after pushing over 1 million shares while Mezzan Holding climbed 9 fils to 530 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co shed 10 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co stood pat at 308 fils. Integrated Holding Co gained 7 fils.
Jazeeera Airways was unchanged at 998 fils and ALAFCO too did not budge from its earlier close of 267 fils. KPPC and KCPC clipped 2 fils each to close at 50.5 fils and 210 fils respectively whereas Warbacap dialed up 2 fils. Salbookh paused at 40.5 fils and SPEC ticked 0.3 fil higher.
Kuwait Cement Co climbed 6 fils to 265 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement jumped 25 fils to KD 1.125. Sharjah Cement Co took in 1.1 fils and Fujairah Cement ticked 0.5 fil higher to 51 fils. QIC added 2.8 fils and Inovest rose 3 fils to 63 fils.
Combined Group Contracting took in 1 fil and OSOS dialed up 2 fils to
close at 103 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co dialed up 2 fils and Gulf Cable tripped 1 fil before ending at 454 fils. Mashaer Holding and NICBM were flat at 69.5 fils and 166 fils respectively.
Kuwait Foundry Co slipped 7 fils to 413 fils and ACICO Industries was up 4 fils at 126 fils. Automated Systems Co shed 8.6 fils and Independent Petroleum Group closed 5 fils in red. Equipment Holding Co inched 0.1 fil lower to 17 fils. KGL Logistics trimmed 0.7 fil.
Ticked
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank and Kuwait International Bank took in 1 fil each with volume 3.6 million shares while Boubyan Bank added 2 fils before closing at 562 fils. Burgan Bank ticked 1 fil higher on back of 2.5 million.
Warba Bank took in 1 fil to close at 256 fils and Ahli United Bank followed suit on back of over 7 million shares. Al Ahli Bank was unchanged at 300 fils and Al Mutahed tripped 1 fil. Commercial Bank was not traded during the session.
KIPCO ticked 1 fil up to 220 fils while Gulf Finance House edged 0.7 fil above the rim with a volume of 1.4 million. Kuwait Investment Co dialed up 1 fil whereas National Investment Co and FACIL stood pat at 125 fils
and 199 fils respectively.
Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) inched 0.1 fil up to 94 fils while Coast Investment Co clipped 1 fil. Coast Investment Co tripped 1 fil while Unicap and Madar Finance eased 0.2 fils each to end at 41 fils and 110 fils respectively. GIH trimmed 0.9 fil.
International Financial Advisors added 1.7 fil on back of 1.2 million shares and Securties House ticked 0.1 fil into green. Aayan and Al Deera Holding clipped 0.7 fil each and Al Mal edged 0.5 fil lower to 9.7 fils. Al Aman took in 0.1 fil.
Bayan Investment Co fell 2.4 fils ro 37.7 fils and KFIC eased 0.2 fil. Amwal paused at 40 fils while Ektittab Holding and Al Imtiaz dialed down 1 fil each. Kuwait Insurance Co climbed 5 fils to 320 fils and Warba Insurance Co shed 8 fils.
Kuwait Real Estate rallied 4.8 fils to 18.3 million and United Real Estate Co gave up 2.4 fils. National Real Estate Co inched 0.2 fil higher to 79.1 fils and Tamdeen Real Estate skidded 13 fils to 280 fils.
The bourse has been largely upbeat so far during the week and has gained 24 points in last three sessions. The main index has climbed 50 points from start of the month and is trading 649 pts higher year-to-date. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.