Kuwait index rebounds, trading volume shrinks
Boubyan Bank jumps 43 fils, KIPCO flat
KUWAIT CITY, Nov 27: Kuwait stocks rebounded on Wednesday following last session’s pullback. The All Shares Index, after a shaky start, climbed 53.87 points to 5,878.67 pts helped by strong buying in some of the blue-chips.
The Premier Market soared 76.58 points to 6,449.58 pts taking the month’s gains to 238 pts while Main Market added 6.81 pts to close at 6,449.58 points. The volume turnover meanwhile dropped well below the 200 mln mark. Over 131 million shares changed hands - 35 pct dip from the day before.
The sectors closed mostly in green turf. Basic Materials outshone the rest with 3 pct gain whereas Insurance shed 0.34 percent, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise, Financial Services topped with over 53 million shares while in value Bank dominated with KD 14.93 million.
Among the notable movers, Boubyan Bank surged 43 fils to 563 fils on back of over 1 million shares while Kuwait Finance House climbed 11 fils to 711 fils with brisk trading. Mabanee Co recouped Tuesday’s losses with 41 fils jump to 847 fils.
Zain rose 7 fils to 578 fils on back of 2.2 million shares while Ooredoo gave up 9 fils before settling at 769 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co ( VIVA) gained 4 fils to close at 722 fils and Agility was up 5 fils at 756 fils. Humansoft Holding climbed 19 fils to KD 3.049.
The market opened firm and ticked higher in early trade. The main index touched the day’s highest level of 5,885 and pulled briefly lower before heading north . It drifted into red again to plumb the day’s highest level of 5,857 pts half way into the session and revved up in the final hour to close with hefty gains.
Top gainer of the day, AGHC rallied 13.3 pct to 298 fils and Future kid sprinted 9.9 pct to stand next. KSHC dropped 14.8 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Abyaar topped the volume with over 14 million shares.
Despite the day’s gains, the losers slightly outnumbered the winners. 57 stocks advanced whereas 60 closed lower. Of the 126 counters active on Wednesday, 9 closed flat. 6,198 deals worth KD 26.99 million were transacted during the session.
National Industries Group eased 1 fil to 229 fils after trading over 5 million shares while Mezzan Holding fell 3 fils to 550 fils. Booubyan Petrochemical Co soared 41 fils to 714 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co dialed up 2 fils. Integrated Holding Co closed 2 fils below the rim.
Jazeera Airways slipped 6 fils to KD 1.090 and ALAFCO tripped 1 fil before closing at 263 fils. Educational Holding Co climbed 9 fils to 429 fils while Safat Energy and Energy Holding Co took in 1 fil each to close at 20 fils and 21 fils respectively.
Kuwait Portland Cement slipped 4 fils to 987 fils and Kuwait Cement Co jumped 6 fils with thin trading. Hilal Cement have up 3 fils and Gulf Cement Co was down 5.3 fils at 49.5 fils. Fujairah Cement eased 0.4 fil to 47.6 fils and Ras Al Khaimah White Cement Co ticked 0.2 fil into red.
Kuwait Foundry Co jumped 12 fils to 357 fils and Shuaiba Industrial gained 10 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co dialed up 2 fils and Equipment Holding added 0.9 fil before closing at 21.4 fils. Salbookh took in 1.3 fils.
Kuwait Gulf Links Transport Co was unchanged at 61 fils and KGL Logistics inched 0.1 fil up on back of 1.4 million shares. QIC slipped 4.5 fils to 58.5 fils while SPEC and Al Rai Media Group eased 0.1 fil each.
Combined Gulf Contracting Co clipped 2 fils after trading 2.5 million shares ad Gulf Cable gave up 4 fils. KCPC fell 4 fils to 262 fils and KPPC tripped 0.2 fil. Gulf Petroleum Investment Co edged 0.2 fil into red and Mashaer ticked 0.2 fil lower.
In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait dropped 8 fils to KD 1.012 after trading 4.9 million shares and Gulf Bank clipped 1 fil. Kuwait International Bank stood pat at 268 fils and Burgan Bank rose 3 fils.
Commercial Bank sprinted 10 fils to 512 fils whereas Al Ahli Bank and Al Mutahed dialed down 2 fils each to close at 275 fils and 322 fils respectively. Warba Bank took in 1 fil and Ahli United Bank closed 3 fils up at 274 fils.
KIPCO was flat at 217 fils and Gulf Finance House added 0.9 fil. Kuwait Investment Co and FACIL tripped 1 fil each whereas International Financial Advisors inched 0.5 fil into green. Arzan eased 0.5 fil after trading over 9 million shares.
Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) dialed up 1.2 fils and KMEFIC climbed 8 fils to 98 fils on back of 9.1 million shares. Securities House inched 0.2 fil higher and Al Aman closed 2.1 fils below the rim. GIH rose 3.4 fils with a volume of 1.7 million.
Bayan Investment took in 1.6 fils and KFIC closed 1.3 fils above the rim. Al Deera Holding and Al Madina were unchanged at 13 fils and 15.7 fils respectively whereas Sokouk Holding dialed up 1.9 fils.
Noor Financial dropped 7 fils to 121 fils after pushing 2.3 million shares while KSHC and Amwal gave up 4 fils. Al Imtiaz closed flat at 126 fils and Kuwait Insurance Co slipped 5 fils.
The bourse has been largely upbeat so far during the week gaining 92 pts in last four sessions. It had rallied 195 pts from the start of the month and is trading 799 points higher year-to-date. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.