Kuwait index extends winning spree
KUWAIT CITY, Sept 23: Kuwait stocks pulled higher on Wednesday, extending its gains to sixth straight session. The All Shares Index scaled 46.62 points to end at 5,624.39 pts helped by heavyweights even as the sentiment turned positive.
The Premier Market rallied 61.94 points to 6,240.58 pts taking the month’s gains to 386 pts while Main Market rose 15.14 pts to 4,400 points. The BK 50 Main Index climbed 24 pts. The volume turnover saw a modest bounce following Tuesday’s drop. Over 449 million shares changed hands – down 9 pct from the day before.
All sectors, barring one, closed in green turf. Technology outpaced the rest with 2.2 pct gain whereas Consumer Services, the only loser, shed 0.58 percent. Volume wise, Financial Services topped with 160.9 pct gain whereas Banking sector continued to dominate in value with KD 35.2 million.
Among the standout performers, National Bank of Kuwait extended its gains with 9 fils jump to 899 fils on back of 7.3 million shares while Kuwait Finance House paced 12 fils with a volume of over 17 million and is up 68 fils so far during the month. Boursa scaled 22 fils after pushing 1.5 million shares and Mabanee Co added 3 fils.
Zain inched 1 fil up to 586 fils on back of over 6 million shares while Ooredoo was up 5 fils at 620 fils. stc sprinted 15 fils to 860 fils and Agility took in 1 fil after moving 2.9 million shares. Humansoft Holding skidded 65 fils to KD 2.710 extending Tuesday’s losses and KIPCO dialed up 1 fil with a volume of over 3 million.
The market opened firm and crept higher in early trade amid moderate round of buying in some of the counters. The main index treaded water thereafter as sentiment turned brittle and a last minute spurt pushed the index further to close with robust gains.
Top gainer of the day, Munshaat soared 15 pct to 80.5 fils and Masaken climbed 9.8 percent to stand next. Thuraya shed 9.6 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Investors Holding topped the volume with over 72 million shares.
Reflecting the day’s gains, the winners outnumbered the losers. 71 stocks advanced whereas 47 closed lower. Of the 131 counters active on Wednesday, 13 closed flat. 15,308 deals worth KD 67.46 million were transacted during the session.
National Industries Group rose 3 fils to 178 fils on back of 14.2 million shares while Mezzan Holding scaled 8 fils before ending at 630 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co clipped 1 fil and Al Qurain Petrochemical dialed up 1 fil before ending at 282 fils. Integrated Holding added 2 fils and Aznoula inched 1 fil into green.
Jazeera Airways ticked 1 fil higher to 575 fils and ALAFCO was up 3 fils on back of 5.7 million shares to close at 170 fils. Soor gave up 2 fils and EK Holding slipped 5 fils to 365 fils. Inovest edged 0.6 fil to 75.1 fils on back of 2.5 million shares and Mashaer Holding closed 1.8 fils in green.
Kuwait Cement Co was unchanged at 207 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement darted 14 fils to 782 fils. Hilal Cement Co gained 10 fils while Fujairah Cement
Co and Gulf Cement Co inched 0.6 fil each into green. QIC paused at 72 fils and Mashaer Holding dialed up 1.8 fils on back of 1.5 million shares.
Kuwait Foundry Co slipped 5 fils to 255 fils and Gulf Cable jumped 16 fils to 718 fils. ACICO Industries stood pat at 103 fils and NICBM dialed down 2 fils before ending at 154 fils. Equipment Holding trimmed 0.4 fil and NCCI closed 2.7 fils in red. IFA Hotels and Resorts eased 0.5 fil to 23.9 fils. Independent Petroleum Group Kuwait and Gulf Links and Transport Co edged 0.5 fil higher to 45.9 fils and Automated Systems Co added 1.6 fils on back of 2.5 million shares. KCPC erased 1 fil and KPPC tripped 0.2 fil. Combined Group Contracting Co took in 1 fil and Educational Holding Co rose 3 fils to 309 fils.
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank rose 6 fils to 231 fils on back of 17.6 million shares while Kuwait International Bank rallied 8 fils with brisk trading. Burgan Bank climbed 6 fils to 213 fils and Boubyan Bank added 3 fils.
The market has been buoyant so far during the week rallying 176 pts in last four sessions. It has soared 330 points from start of the month and is down 658 points year-to-date.