Kuwait wraps up week with downswing
Burgan Bank slips 6 fils, Mabanee Co gains
By John Mathews
KUWAIT CITY, May 7: Kuwait stocks slipped into red on Thursday to wrap up the week on a sour note. The All Shares Index dipped 46.75 points to 4861.92 points weighed mostly by blue chips even as the broader sentiment turned soggy.
The Premier Market slid 58.33 pts to 5230.17 points taking the month’s losses to 126 points while Main Market shed 23.61 pts. The BK 50 Main was down 36.2 points at 4035 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile rose marginally by over 2 pct to over 128 million shares.
The sectors closed mostly in red turf. Consumer Goods outpaced the rest with 1.2 percent gain whereas Consumer Services shed 1.94 pct, the biggest loser of the day. Banking sector continued to top both in value and volume with over 82 million shares worth KD 18.9 million.
Among the notable losers, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait slipped 3 fils to 734 fils after trading 2.3 million shares and Burgan Bank followed suit to end at 197 fils with a volume of 2.2 million. Kuwait Finance House erased most of last session’s gains with a 4 fils drop to 583 fils and the counter saw 4.8 million shares change hands.
Zain fell 4 fils to 516 fils after pushing 2.2 million shares while Ooredoo gave up 12 fils to end at 630 fils and is down 16 fils from start of the month. STC ticked 1 fil into green whereas logistics major Agility was down 4 fils at 653 fils with a volume of 1.2 million. Humansoft Holding skidded 52 fils to KD 2.735 and KIPCP took in 1 fil. Mabanee Co gained 7 fils.
The market opened weak and headed south in early trade. The main index moved sideways thereafter and eroded further as selling weighed on most of the heavyweights. It plumbed the day’s lowest level of 4260 points past the mid-session and closed with moderate losses.
Top gainer of the day, Wethaq Takaful rallied 10 pct to 19.8 fils and Warba Insurance Co sprinted 9.7 percent to stand next. IFA Hotels and Resorts skidded 12.7 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Ahli United Bank continued to top the volume with over 52 million shares.
Reflecting the day’s downswing, the losers outnumbered the winners. 29 stocks advanced whereas 55 closed lower. Of the 101 counters active on Thursday, 17 closed flat. 5689 deals worth KD 24.6 million were transacted during the session.
National Industries Group fell 3 fils to 174 fils after moving 2.7 million shares while Mezzan Holding climbed 7 fils to 584 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co was up 5 fils at 496 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co stood pat at 225 fils. Integrated Holding Co added 3 fils.
Jazeera Airways dropped 9 fils to 540 fils and ALAFCO tripped 1 fils. Kuwait Portland Cement rose 3 fils to 740 fils and Kuwait Cement Co gave up 5 fils. KCPC gained 5 fils whereas KPPC paused at 42.5 fils. Combined Group Contracting Co added 3 fils and FutureKid slipped 4 fils.
The market was largely downbeat during the week. The main index closed lower in three of the five sessions shedding 114 points week-onweek. It had gained 153 points during whole of April and is trading 1421 pts lower year-to-date.