Kuwaiti market swings higher in volatile trade
NAPESCO soars 70 fils, Markaz flat
KUWAIT CITY, Feb 17: Kuwait stocks pulled higher on Monday stemming the three-day fall. The All Shares climbed 16.35 points in a volatile session to 6,189.35 points helped by some of the heavyweights even as the overall mood turned cautiously positive.
The Premier Market jumped 24.45 points to 6,873.88 pts trimming the month’s losses to 135 points while Main Market was little changed at 4,835.49 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile dipped for the second straight session. Over 169 million shares changed hands – a 19 pct drop from the day before.
The sectors closed mixed. Technology outshone the rest with 9.9 pct gain whereas Financial Services shed 0.81 percent, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise topped with 59.49 million shares while in value Banks continued to hold fort with over KD 16 million.
Among the standouts, National Bank of Kuwait rallied 4 fils on back of 3.3 million shares while Kuwait Finance House dialed up 2 fils on back of 5.3 million shares. Boubyan Bank sprinted 5 fils to 639 fils and NAPESCO soared 70 fils to KD 1.340.
Zain rose 3 fils to 576 fils on back of 1.8 million shares and Ooredoo was up 5 fils at 782 fils. STC climbed 14 fils to 800 fils and logistics major Agility added 3 fils to close at 812 fils paring the month’s losses to 38 fils. Humansoft Holding fell 5 fils to KD 3.280.
The market opened firm and slipped briefly before heading north in early trade. The main index scaled the day’s highest level of 6,196 points and flipped direction amid selling in select counters. It continued to drift lower in choppy trade and bottomed at 6,181 points past the mid-session before clawing back in the final hour to close with modest gains.
Top gainer of the day, FutureKid spiked 16.5 pct to 105 fils while Metal and Recycling Co sprinted 9.98 pct to stand next. Thuraya skidded 11.5 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Arzan topped the volume with over 17 million shares.
Mirroring the day’s gains, the market spread was skewed towards the winners. 62 stocks advanced whereas 45 closed lower. Of the 123 counters active on Monday, 16 closed flat. 6,490 deals worth KD 24.7 million were transacted during the session.
National Industries Group took in 2 fils to close at 239 fls while Mezzan Holding tripped 1 fil. Boubyan Petrochemical Co added 2 fils before settling at 637 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co eased 1 fil to 284 fils. Integrated Holding Co stood pat at 569 fils.
Jazeera Airways climbed 11 fils to KD 1.010 and ALAFCO ticked 1 fil higher to 268 fils. Mashaer Holding gave up 1.3 fils before closing at 74.7 fils and Jiyad eased 0.7 fil to 41.2 fils. KPPC fell 3.4 fils to 49.5 fils and KCPC paused at 281 fils. Al Manar added 1.5 fils and SPEC clipped 0.9 fil to end at 80.9 fils.
Kuwait Cement Co took in 1 fil and Kuwait Portland Cement was down 5 fils at 952 fils. Gulf Cement Co ticked 0.2 fil lower to 48.2 fils and Fujairah Cement clipped 1 fil. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co eased 1 fil to 404 fils.
Kuwait Foundry Co dialed up 1 fil and Gulf Cable slipped 3 fils to 492 fils. Equipment Holding Co trimmed 0.5 fil and Warbacap was up 1.5 fils. Educational Holding was down 4 fils at 361 fils and AGHC held ground at 198 fils.
Kuwait National Cinema Co tumbled 62 fils to 820 fils and Independent Petroleum Group jumped 40 fils to 470 fils. Safat Energy gave up 0.9 fil before settling at 22 fils and Gulf Petroleum Investment clipped 0.4 fil after trading 6.4 million shares.
Combined Group Contracting Co rose 3 fils to 249 fils and OSOS stood pat at 119 fils. Al Rai Media Group fell 1.4 fils to 37 fils and EK Holding shed 33 fils. ACICO Industries tripped 1 fil and Sultan Centre was unchanged at 53.1 fils.
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank took in 2 fils on back of over 10 million shares and Kuwait International Bank followed suit to close at 276 fils. Warba Bank dialed up 1 fil and Ahli United was up by same measure with a volume of 13.5 million shares.
Burgan Bank was flat at 303 fils while Al Ahli Bank and Al Mutahed dialed up 1 fil each to end at 261 fils and 342 fils respectively.
KIPCO took in 207 fils and Kuwait Investment Co fell 2 fils to 165 fils. International Financial Advisors inched 0.4 fil higher to 56.9 fils while FACIL and Coast Investment Co added 1 fil each to close at 210 fils and 43.5 fils respectively.
Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) paused at 114 fils with a volume of over 9 million while National Investment Co clipped 1 fil. Securities House ticked 0.3 fil higher whereas ALOLA and Osoul held ground at 36.7 fils and 85 fils respectively.
KAMCO rose 2.8 fils to 98.5 fils while Arzan added 1.8 fils on back of over 17 million shares. Al Mal Investment eased 0.1 fil to 13.9 fils and Unicap was up 3 fils at 51.5 fils. KFIC clipped 1.8 fils and Sokouk Holding inched 0.1 fil into green.
Noor Financial Investment took in 1 fil and Al Deera Holding closed 1.7 fils higher at 21.6 fils. Bayan Investment was unchanged at 37.5 fils and KSHC added 2.7 fils. Al Madina eased 0.1 fil to 16.9 fils with a volume of 6.8 million shares.
Asiya dialed up 1 fil and Al Imtiaz tripped 1 fil before closing at 126 fils. Warba Insurance Co was down 4.3 fils at 61 fils and Kuwait Reinsurance Co sprinted 15 fils to 173 fils. First Takaful gained 3.4 fils and Wetahq Takaful added 2.6 fils.
Mabanee Co eased 1 fil to 878 fils and National Real Estate clipped 0.3 fil after trading 1.2 million shares. United Real Estate inched 0.1 fil down whereas Salhiya Real Estate and Tamdeen Real paused at 446 fils and 304 fils respectively.
The market was largely weak during last week. The main index closed lower in four of the five sessions shedding 66 pts weekon-week. It has tumbled 150 pts so far during the month and is trading 75 pts down year-to-date.