Kuwait’s bourse kicks off month on ‘gloomy’ note, volume tapers
National Bank of Kuwait drops 13 fils, Ooredoo ticks up
KUWAIT CITY, May 3: Kuwait stocks swung lower on Sunday as it kicked off the month on a dour note. The All Shares Index slid 89.88 points in a broad decline to 4,885.5 pts weighed by a strong bout of profit making after last week’s gains.
The Premier Market tumbled 108.180 points to 5,248 pts after gaining 158 points during whole of March while Main Market dipped 53.4 points. BK 50 Main index slid 85.6 points to 4,101.66 points. The volume turnover meanwhile receded after rising slightly in the previous session. Over 148 million shares changed hands – a 32 pct drop from Thursday.
All sectors closed in the red zone. Consumer Services slid 3.27 pct, the worst performer of the day while Insurance saw the least fall of 0.03 pct. Banking sector continued to dominate the volume and value with 78.2 million shares worth KD 22.5 million.
Among the notable losers, National Bank of Kuwait slumped 13 fils to 728 fils after trading 6.4 million shares and Boubyan Bank followed suit to close at 487 fils, Kuwait Finance House was down 11 fils at 585 fils with a volume of 9.5 million shares and the stock had shed 36 fils during whole of April.
Zain dropped 15 fils to 515 fils after moving 2.8 million shares while Ooredoo added 3 fils with thin volume. stc gave up 10 fils before settling at 830 fils while logistics major Agility was down 10 fils at 633 fils with a volume of 633 fils and has shed 185 fils yearto-date. Humansoft Holding skipped 19 fils to KD 2.830
The market opened slightly weak and slipped into red in early trade. The main index pulled up briefly and headed south again as investors locked profit across the sectors. It traded flattish in second half before closing in deep red.
Top gainer of the day, International Financial Advisors rallied 15.13 pct to 35 fils and Hayat Communication sprinted 14.9 pct to stand close behind. Al Mutahed skidded 8.85 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Ahli United Bank topped the volume with 32.8 million shares.
Mirroring the day’s downswing, the losers widely outnumbered the winners. 26 stocks advanced whereas 72 closed lower. Of the 109 counters active on Sunday, 11 closed flat. 7,138 deals worth KD 30.25 million were transacted during the session.
National Industries Group fell 3 fils to 168 fils after trading 4.9 million shares
while Mezzan Holding shed 10 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co dropped 9 fils to 495 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co was down 5 fils at 233 fils.
Jazeera Airways skidded 30 fils to 593 fils and ALAFCO gave up 7 fils. Kuwait National Cinema Co slid 32 fils to 655 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement
dropped 30 fils. Combined Group Contracting Co fell 5 fils to 203 fils.
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank slipped 7 fils to 209 fils after pushing 3.8 million shares and Burgan Bank followed suit after notching gains in the previous session. Kuwait International Bank gave up 5 fils and Warba
Bank was down 10 fils at 201 fils.
The market was buoyant during the past week. The main index closed higher in all the five sessions rallying 290 points week-on-week. It had gained 153 points during whole of April and is trading 1,397 pts lower year-to-date.