Kuwaiti equities claw back in volatile trade

NBK rallies 9 fils, Humansoft Holding dives

By John Mathews Arab Times Staff KUWAIT CITY, Oct 15: Kuwait stocks saw a modest rebound on Monday following last session’s broad decline. The All Shares Index climbed 22.75 points in volatile session to 5015.30 pts paced by fresh buying in heavyweights even as the overall mood remained cautious.

The Premier Market jumped 46.09 points to 5205.36 pts and Main Market climbed 46.09 points. The volume turnover meanwhile slipped below the 100 million mark after hitting a 3-week high on Sunday. Over 71 million shares changed hands – a down 31 pct from the day before.

The sectors closed mixed. Banks outshone the rest with 0.87 pct gain whereas consumer goods shed 2 pct, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, banks notched the highest market share of 38 pct and financial services trailed with 20 percent contribution.

Among the standout performers, National Bank of Kuwait rallied 9 fils on back of 5.8 million shares to 815 fils while Boubyan Bank climbed 16 fils to 539 fils. Humansoft Holding however skidded 94 fils to KD 2.996 and UPAC slid 48 fils.

Zain rose 3 fils to 449 fils on back of 6 million shares while Ooredoo fell 2 fils to 757 fills. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) ticked 1 fil higher to 719 fils while Agility was up 5 fils on back of 1.5 million shares and is down 20 fils from start of the month.

The market opened firm and moved sideways in early trade. The main index slipped to hit the day’s lowest level of 5,004 pts and headed north as buying picked up. It peaked at 5,034 pts ahead of the mid-session and retreated thereafter to close with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, REAM soared 20.5 percent to 217 fils while Future Kid climbed 10 pct to stand next.

Tamdeen Real Estate Co skidded 12 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Kuwait Real Estate Co topped the volume with 3.2 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s gain, the winners outnumbered the losers. 56 stocks advanced whereas 45 closed lower. Of the 117 counters active on Monday, 16 closed flat. 4598 deals worth KD 20.3 million were transacted – down 21.7 pct in value from the day before.

National Industries Group rose 3 fils to 154 fils on back of 3.3 million shares whereas Mezzan Holding shed 16 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co scaled 17 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co gave up 6 fils before closing at 380 fils.

Kuwait Foundry Co rose 6 fils to 192 fils with razor thin trading and Gulf Cable was up 5 fils at 380 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries Group slipped 9 fils and ACICO Industries stood pat at 201 fils.

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co rose 3.6 fils to 97.7 fils and KGL Logistics tripped 0.9 fil after trading over 23 million shares. KCPC added 3 fils and KPPC stood pat at 52.5 fils. Safat Energy ticked 0.5 fil up to 27.5 fils

Kuwait Portland Cement slid 25 fils to KD 1.031 while NICBM

clipped 2 fils. Automated Systems Co clipped 2 fils whereas NAPESCO and EK Holding paused at 830 fils and 341 fils respectively.

Combined Group Contracting Co dropped 10 fils to 350 fils and Inovest gave up 2.8 fils. Al Rai Media Group was unchanged at 51 fils and Inovest trimmed 2.8 fils. NICBM clipped 2 fils and ALAFCO was up 7 fils at 328 fils.

In the banking sector, Burgan Bank climbed 4 fils on back of 5.6 million shares while Gulf Bank held ground at 250 fils after trading over 2 million shares. Ahli United Bank rose 3 fils to 202 fils on back of over 5 million shares.

Kuwait International Bank and Kuwait Finance House took in 1 fil each. Fitch Ratings has affirmed KFH’s long-term issuer default rating (IDR) at “A+”, with a “stable” outlook. Fitch has also affirmed the lender’s viability rating at (bb+).

Commercial Bank slipped 5 fils to 505 fils while Warba Bank scaled 5 fils. Al Ahli Bank clipped 2 fils and Al Mutahed dialed up 2 fils to wind up at 292 fils.

KIPCO took in 1 fil and Gulf Finance House tripped 0.4 fil before closing at 95.6 fils. Kuwait Investment Co added 2 fils whereas

FACIL and Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) dialed down 2 fils each.

National Investment Co and Al Imtiaz took in 1 fil each whereas NIH was down 5 fils at 65 fils. Coast Investment Co trimmed 0.2 fil and Madar Finance Co rose 3 fils to 149 fils.

International Financial Advisors edged 0.4 fil higher to 21.5 fils and Al Mal Investment closed 0.6 fil higher. Wethaq Takaful dialed down 2 fils and Warba Insurance slipped 4.9 fils to 75 fils.

Noor Financial Investment Co and Tamdeen Investment Co were flat at 51.9 fils and 280 fils respectively while Unicap ticked 0.1 fil into green. Al Madina took in 0.3 fil and Amwal Investment inched 0.1 fil down.

Mabanee Co took in 1 fil and United Real Estate eased 0.1 fil to 61.9 fils. National Real Estate Co clipped 0.3 fil and Mazaya Holding edged 0.2 fil into red. Kuwait Real Estate was up 0.6 fil at 45.1 fils.

The bourse has been mixed so far during the week, shedding 51 pts in last two sessions and skidded 113 points from start of the month. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.