Kuwait market wraps up week with steep losses
National Bank of Kuwait skids 32 fils, Humansoft Holding gains
By John Mathews
KUWAIT CITY, April 9: Kuwait stocks swung into red on Thursday to wind up the week on a gloomy note. The All Shares Index dived 121.98 pts to 4596.32 points dragged by steep losses in most of the blue-chips even as the overall mood turned markedly dour.
The Premier Market skidded 172.49 points to 4910.98 pts while the Main Market was down 20.89 points at 3979.16 pts. BK 50 Main dropped 19.83 points to 3884.43 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile bounced to hit month’s highest following Wednesday’s drop. Over 187 million shares changed hands – a 33 pct dip from the day before.
All sectors barring one closed in red. Consumer Goods , the only gainer, rose 0.52 percent while Real Estate slid 4 pct, the worst performer of the day. Banking sector topped in both volume and value with 123 million shares worth KD 46 million.
Among the day’s notable gainers, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait slid 32 fils to 680 fils after trading 22.2 million shares and is down 40 fils from start of the month while Kuwait Finance House was down 17 fils at 607 fils with a volume of 26.7 million. Mabanee Co extended last session’s losses with 47 fils slide to 560 fils.
Zain dipped 16 fils to 458 fils after pushing 13.4 million shares and Ooredoo took in 1 fil before settling at 590 fils. STC too added 1 fil and logistics major Agility extended Wednesdays losses with 11 fils drop to 559 fils. Humansoft Holding partly recouped last session’s steep losses with 31 fils gain.
The market opened weak and eroded further in early trade. The main index seesawed between small losses and gains and plumbed the day’s lowest level of 4570 points ahead of the mid-session amid selling in most of the heavyweights. It clawed back some of the losses in the second half before closing with hefty losses.
Top gainer of the day,, Munshaat jumped 10 pct to 61.6 pct and Tijara climbed 9.78 percent to stand close behind. Argan skidded 26.2 percent , the steepest decliner of the day and Ahli United Bank topped the volume with 29.3 million.
Reflecting the day’s losses, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 22 stocks advanced whereas 65 closed lower. Of the 87 counters active on Thursday, 10 closed flat. 15.167 deals worth KD 62.87 million were transacted during the session.
National Industries Group fell 2 fils to 145 fils with a volume of 2.3 million while Mezzan Holding recouped last session’s losses with 6 fils rise to 575 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co eased 1 fil to 455 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co dialed down 2 fils. Integrated Holding Co eased 1 fil to 424 fils.
Jazeera Airways slipped 3 fils to 501 fils and ALAFCO followed suit to end at 144 fils. Combined Group bucked the trend with 17 fils gain whereas Independent Petroleum Group shed 18 fils. KPPC and Educational
Holding paused at 43.9 fils and 240 fils respectively while KCPC added 4 fils.
Kuwait Cement Co tripped 1 fil and Kuwait Portland Cement skidded 14 fils to 801 fils. Kuwait Foundry Co and ACICO Industries took in 1 fil each while Gulf Cable gave up 10 fils.
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank dropped 11 fils to 193 fils after trading 19.8 million shares and Burgan Bank slipped 10 fils to 190 fils. Boubyan Bank shed 22 fils and Ahli United Bank gave up 4 fils. Warba Bank fell 3 fils and Al Ahli Bank closed 4 fils in red.
KIPCO slipped 7 fils to 169 fils and KAMCO erased 4.1 fils. Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) paused at 85.4 fils and Osoul slipped 4.6 fils to 89.2 fils. Noor Investment closed 5 fils in red.
The market was mixed during the week. The main index closed lower in two of the five sessions, shedding 106 points week-on-week. It had tumbled 1250 points during whole of March and is trading 1685 pts lower year-todate.