Kuwait index powers past 5,000 pts mark
KFH rallies 24 fils; Ooredoo dips
KUWAIT CITY, July 4: Kuwait stocks breached the 5,000 pts mark Wednesday as it extended its gains to fourth straight session. The All Shares Index spiked 90.2 pts in a broad advance to 5,053.6 points powered by heavyweights even as Humansoft Holding rebounded from Tuesday’s sharp pullback.
The Premier Market soared 130.7 pts to 5,131 pts taking the month’s rally to 227 pts and Main Market climbed 17 points. The volume turnover meanwhile continued to rise for fourth day in row. Over 155 million shares changed hands — a 31 pct surge from the day before.
The sectors closed mostly higher. Consumer goods outperformed the rest with 3.3 pct gain whereas oil and gas shed 1.47 percent, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise banks mustered the highest market share of 41 pct and financial services trailed with 24.9 percent contribution.
Among the prime movers, National Bank of Kuwait extended its gains with 15 fils jump to 773 fils on back of 6.4 million shares and Kuwait Finance House scaled 24 fils with brisk trading. Mabanee Co climbed 9 fils.
Zain rallied 19 fils on back of 10.7 million shares taking the month’s gains to 38 fils whereas Ooredoo bucked the broader trend to close 16 fils in red. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) gained 15 fils and Agility climbed 24 fils with volume of over 4 million.
Gulf Bank took in 2 fils and Boubyan Bank rose 7 fils to. The bank has registered a 17.8 pct jump in profits to KD 12.56 million during the first quarter of 2017 from same quarter in 2017.
Headed
The market opened firm and headed north in early trade. The main index continued to rise and hit the day’s highest level of 5,062 pts past the mid-session. It sagged slightly before closing with solid gains.
Top gainer of the day, Kuwait Finance House rallied 4.3 pct to 582 fils and Zain followed with 4.19 pct upswing. Gulf Finance House slipped 0.93 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Kuwait Finance House also topped the volume with 19.8 million shares.
Reflecting the day’s rally, the market spread continued to be broadly skewed towards the winners. 70 stocks advanced whereas 32 closed lower. Of the 121 counters active on Wednesday, 19 closed flat. 7,308 deals worth KD 42 million were transacted — a 38 pct surge in value from the day before.
National Industries Group rallied 4 fils to 165 fils on back of 7.8 million shares and Boubyan Petrochemical Co extended Tuesday’s gains with 8 fils rise. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co added 5 fils and Equipment
Holding Co tripped 0.3 fil.
Jazeera Airways fell 5 fils to 750 fils erasing last session’s gains and ALAFCO gave up 3 fils before settling at 347 fils. Kuwait Cement Co and Gulf Cable stood pat at 400 fils and 390 fils respectively whereas KPPC edged 0.7 fil into green.
NAPESCO slid 30 fils and Qurain Petrochemical Industries ticked 1 fil up. The company has posted a 4.4% rise in profits to KD 19.17 million in the first three months of 2018 compared to KD 18.36 mln for the same period last year.
Kuwait Foundry Co slipped 4 fils to 199 fils while Independent Petroleum Group and YIACO paused at 449 fils and 138 fils respectively. Combined Group Contracting Co added 5 fils and IFA Hotels and Resorts took in 2 fils.
Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co clipped 1 fil and KGL Logistics inched 0.1 fil into green. Al Rai Media Group dialed up 0.5 fil and Inovest followed suit.
In the banking sector, Burgan Bank ticked 1 fil higher to 267 fils and Kuwait International Bank rose 5 fils to 239 fils. Ahli United Bank rose 7 fils to 192 fils whereas Commercial Bank and Al Ahli Bank were not traded during the session.
KIPCO was flat at 244 fils whereas Gulf Finance House eased 1 fil to 106 fils. Kuwait Investment Co dropped 3 fils to 121 fils whereas International
Financial Advisors was up 3 fils at 25.5 fils.
National Investment Co added 1.5 fils and KAMCO stood pat at 75 fils. Coast Investment Co and Aayan Investment dialed up 0.1 fil each whereas Gulf Investment House inched 0.2 fil into red. Unicap fell 2.5 fils to 54.5 fils.
Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) climbed 4 fils to 104 fils whereas Securities House Co clipped 0.3 fil. Sokouk Holding trimmed 0.6 fil and Madar Finance Investment took in 1 fil.
Noor Financial Investment rose 1.1 fils to 58 fils and Amwal trimmed 0.8 fil. Ektittab Holding fell 1.9 fils to 25.9 fils and Al Imtiaz ticked 1 fil higher to 140 fils.
Kuwait Insurance Co was flat at 295 fils and Warba Insurance took in 1.1 fils. Kuwait Reinsurance Co gave up 2 fils and First Takaful was up 3 fils at 42 fils.
Kuwait Real Estate Co eased 0.4 fil to 46.1 fils and United Real Estate added 0.3 fil. National Real Estate Co gained 5 fils on back of 3.5 million shares and Salhiya Real Estate stalled at 330 fils Al Mazaya Holding ticked 0.1 fil up to 90 fils.
The market has been buoyant so far during the week rallying 164 points in last four sessions. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.