Kuwait ends week down amid rebound in volume

KIPCO slips 5 fils; Humansoft Holding gains

KUWAIT CITY, May 25 : Kuwait stocks pulled lower on Thursday to wind up the week on a sour note. The bourse pared back steeper early session losses to close 15.12 pts down at 6,687.53 point as investors exited positions ahead of the Ramadan.

The KSX 15 benchmark fell 1.46 pts to 914.82 points trimming the year’s gains to 30 pts while weighted index inched 0.31 pt into red. The volume turnover meanwhile rebounded past the 100 million mark after sinking to multi-month lows earlier in the week. 102.7 million shares changed hands — a 62 pct surge from the previous session.

The sectors closed mostly in the red. Technology outshone the rest with 2.35 pct gain whereas parallel market shed 3 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, real estate logged the highest market share of 58.5 pct and financial services trailed with 27.6 percent contribution.

In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait fell 2 fils to 685 fils erasing Wednesday’s uptick while Commercial Bank was down 9 fils at 345 fils. Investment major KIPCO gave up 5 fils before settling at 359 fils.

Zain was unchanged at 431 fils off slight early gains and Ooredoo too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 1.220. Kuwait Telecommunications Co vacillated in tight range before closing flat at 840 fils.

Kuwait Finance House paused at 492 fils after trading over 2 million shares and Burgan Bank followed suit. The bank has registered a 24.6 percent year-on-year increase in its profits to KD 17.81 for the first quarter of 2017. The net operating profit however saw a drop of 3.4 pct to KD 29.16 mln.

The market opened flat and edged lower in early trade. The main index sank deeper half way into the session hit the day’s lowest level of 6,637.94 pts amid spurt in selling. It clawed back thereafter managed to trim some the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Automated Systems Co soared 19.8 pct to 242 fils while NCCI jumped 16.82 percent to stand next. QIC slid 20 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Themar topped the volume with over 45 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s drop, the losers outnumbered the winners. 30 stocks advanced whereas 62 closed lower. Of the 109 counters active on Thursday, 17 closed flat. 2,134 deals worth KD 10.43 million were transacted — a 31.5 pct jump in value from the day before.

National Industries Group took in 1 fil with a over 1 million shares whereas Gulf Cable stood pat at 430 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co dropped 12 fils while Metal and Recycling Co gave up 7 fils.

Kuwait Foundry Co climbed 31 fils to 290 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement was down 10 fils ay 960 fils. Equipment Holding Co fell 2.1 fils and NICBM stood pat at 202 fils. Al Qurain Petrochemical Co inched 1 fil into red.

Jazeera Airways added 3 fils and Alafco gained 19 fils. The airline has posted a 83.3 percent surge in profits to KD 5.59 million for the quarter ending 31 March 2017 from year before period.

Humansoft Holding rallied 50 fils to KD 4.050 partly paring the heavy losses on Wednesday while NAPESCO clipped 2 fils to end at KD 1.578. KGL Logistics inched 1 fil higher to 51 fils.

OSOS pulled 7 fils down to 125 fils and Al Rai Media Group dialed down 2 fils. The company has posted 66.7 percent drop in profits in the first quarter of 2017 to KD 449,760. The net operating profit dipped 64.9 percent to KD 495,540.

Gulf Finance Co dipped 10.4 fils to 45.6 fils and KCPC was unchanged at 160 fils. Shuaiba Industrial Co jumped 30 fils to 310 fils YIACO Medical gave up 5 fils to end at 255 fils.

Zimah Holding Co crept 0.1 fil into green and National Ranges Co (Mayadeen) took in 0.4 fil. Combined Group Contracting Co and Educational Holding Group eased 1 fil each to close at 598 fils and 301 fils respectively.

In the banking sector, Kuwait International Bank closed flat at 246 fils and Boubyan Bank clipped 1 fil. Warba Bank paused at 248 fils whereas Gulf Bank and Al Ahli Bank were not traded during the session.

National Investment Co slipped 4 fils to 96 fils and International Financial Advisors fell 1.5 fils to 37 fils. Securities Group Co eased 1 fil and Securities House dialed up 1fils to wind up at 44 fils. Coast Investment Co eased 1.3 fils and Bayan Investment Co tripped 2.2 fils and Al Deera Holding inched 1fils higher to 34.5 fils. Aayan Investment ticked 0.2 fil up and Al Salam closed 1.2 fils lower. Tamdeen Investment Co stood pat at 310 fils.

Noor Financial Investment Co added 3 fils and Ekttitab Holding edged 0.5 fil inti green. Arzan dialed down 1.4 fils and Al Mal Investment clipped 1 fil after trading over 2 million shares. Amwal eased 0.5 fil to 73 fils.

Mabanee Co dropped 4 fils to 783 fils whereas Tamdeen Real Estate Co jumped 30 fils. Mazaya Holding took in 1 fil and United Real Estate Co climbed 7 fils to 89 fils. Kuwait Real Estate Co closed 2.9 fils.

The market was largely sluggish during the week. The price index closed lower in three of the five sessions and shed 37 points weekon-week. It has tumbled 155 points from start of the month and is trading 16.34 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 208 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Ooredoo Kuwait has posted 26.6 pct jump in profits during the first quarter of 2017 to KD 12.93 million from KD 10.21 million in same period last year. It had recorded a growth of 75 percent in profits to KD 46.67 million during 2016.

Injazzat Real Estate Development has recorded a 71.5 percent surge in the first quarter of 2017 to KD 2.35 million from KD 1.37 million in Q1 of 2016, The earnings were boosted by the sale of one of the company’s assets at a profit of KD 1.97 million. In 2016 the profit was up 2.9 percent at KD 3.2 mln.

National Petroleum Services (Napesco) first quarter profit surged 62.7 percent year-on-year to KD 2.31 million as to compared to KD 1.42 million in same period last year. It company had earned KD 7.71 million in 2016, up 35.6 percent from 2015.

Aayan Real Estate has recorded a 164.7 percent jump in its profits to KD 536,890 for the first quarter of 2017 from same period in the year before. During 2016, the profit saw a 1.5 percent uptick to KD 2.75 million in 2016 from the previous year.

Kuwait National Cinema Co has registered a 26.17 pct jump in profits to KD 3.23 million during the first quarter of 2017 from same period in 2016. The net operating profit surged 61.3 percent to KD 1.3 million.