Kuwait’s market posts solid gains, volume up
Zain rallies 32 fils, Humansoft skids
By John Mathews
Arab Times Staff
KUWAIT CITY, March 24: Kuwait stocks pulled strongly higher on Tuesday extending the gains to third consecutive day. The All Shares Index, after a wobbly start, jumped 190.44 points in a broad advance to 4,821.54 pts led by surge in buying in blue chips counters.
The Premier Market soared 252.57 points to 5,200.34 pts while Main Market sprinted 66.24 points to 4,076.22 pts. BK 50 Main index jumped 96.34 points to 4,031.21 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile rebounded after last session’s sharp drop. Over 235 million shares changed hands – a 41 pct surge from the day before.
All the sectors closed in green. Telecommunications outshone the rest with 9.88 pct jump while Basic Materials stood next with 5.11 pct gain. Banking sector continued to dominate in both volume and value trading 123.5 million shares worth KD 44.9 million.
Among the prime movers, Kuwait Finance House rallied 39 fils to 630 fils on back of 26.6 million shares and Boubyan Bank followed suit to wind up at 479 fils with a volume of 1.9 million. National Bank of Kuwait climbed 13 fils to 750 fils extending last session’s robust gains.
Zain soared 32 fils to 519 fils on back of 12.6 million shares trimming the month’s losses to 41 fils while Ooredoo jumped 38 fils to 660 fils. STC gained 20 fils to end at 750 fils and logistics major Agility rallied 41 fils after pushing over 6 million shares. Humansoft Holding plunged 262 fils to KD 2.248.
The market opened firm and rose slightly in early trade. The main index slipped briefly to plumb the day’s lowest level of 4,659 pts and pivoted north amid surge in buying in heavyweights. It drifted sideways thereafter and closed with hefty gains.
Top gainer of the day, Warba Insurance Co leapt 23.88 pct to 71.6 fils and Tamdeen Investment soared 20.7 pct to stand next. Jiyad skidded 18.2 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Investors Holding topped the volume with over 34 million.
Mirroring the day’s gains, the market spread was skewed towards the winners. 78 stocks advanced whereas 78 closed lower. Of the 108 counters active on Tuesday, 8 closed flat. 15,229 deals worth KD 60.7 million were transacted during the session.
National Industries Group rallied 13 fils to 153 fils trimming the month’s losses to 76 fils while Mezzan Holding sprinted 19 fils to 469 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co jumped 35 fils to 450 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co added 7 fils. Integrated Holding Co stood pat at 426 fils.
Jazeera Airways rebounded 72 fils to 466 fils after slipping into trough in the previous session while ALAFCO clipped 2 fils. Automated Systems Co rose 5.7 fils to 63.4 fils with razor thin trading and NAPESCO gained 7 fils. Gulf Petroleum Investment inched 0.7 fil higher to 13.6 fils.
Kuwait Cement Co rose 4 fils to 169 fils while Kuwait Portland Cement logged a hefty 58 fils upswing. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co sprinted 29 fils and Gulf Cable pulled 35 fils higher. Warbacap rose 4.7 fils to 52.6 fils whereas Educational Holding bucked the trend with 24 fils dip.
Kuwait Foundry Co climbed 10 fils to 310 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co was up 15 fils at 172 fils. KCPC fell 3 fils to 263 fils and KPPC tripped 0.6 fil. Energy Holdimg took in 0.5 fil and OSOS dialed 2 fils before settling at 104 fils.
Kuwait and Gulf Links added 2.1 fils and KGL Logistics inched 0.4 fil up. FutureKid rose 3.6 fils to 94.8 fils and Jiyad gave up 7.5 fils. Inovest took in 2.3 fils and Mashaer Holding clipped 1.5 fils. SPEC closed 2 fils in green.
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank rallied 20 fils on back of 26 million shares to 215 fils while Kuwait International Bank gained 12 fils after pushing 13.4 million shares. Burgan Bank sprinted 18 fils after pushing 7.3 million shares.
Ahli United Bank rallied 13 fils to 213 fils with brisk trading while Warba Bank climbed 16 fils. Al Ahli Bank added 3 fils and Al Mutahed gained 11 fils. Commercial Bank continued to stagnate at 500 fils.