Kuwait’s bourse closes higher, volume shrinks
Gulf Bank gains 4 fils, Zain flat
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 11: Kuwait stocks nudged higher on Tuesday partly recouping last session’s losses. The All Shares Index rose 7.86 pts to 5,171.31 points helped by some of the heavyweights even as the broader sentiment remained soggy in absence of catalysts.
The Prime Market rose 5.11 pts to 5,406.86 points while Main Market climbed 12.93 pts to 4,742.34 points. The volume turnover meanwhile shrank for the fourth straight session. Over 83 million shares changed hands – down 18.4 pct from the day before.
The sectors closed mixed. Consumer services outshone the rest with 1.07 pct gain whereas consumer goods shed 1.8 percent, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, banks garnered the highest market share of 33 percent and financial services trailed with 19.8 pct contribution.
Among the standout performers, Gulf Bank climbed 4 fils to 276 fils while Boubyan Bank scaled 8 fils to settle at 585 fils recouping most of the Monday’s drop. Commercial Bank gained 15 fils and KIPCO added 3 fils before settling at 211 fils.
Zain was unchanged at 470 fils after trading 5.4 million shares and Ooredoo was up 5 fils at 725 fils . Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) fell 3 fils to 776 fils and Agility ticked 1 fil up to 816 fils on back of over 1 million shares.
The market opened firm and edged lower in early trade. The main index plumbed the day’s lowest level of 5,140 deals and flipped as buying picked up in select counters. It drifted sideways for most part of the second half before revving in the final minutes to close with small gains.
Top gainer of the day, Bayan Investment Co rallied 7.74 pct to 48.7 fils and Kuwait Insurance Co climbed 4.79 percent to stand next. Massaleh skidded 7.58 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Gulf Petroleum Investment topped the volume with 10.6 million shares.
Mirroring the day’s uptick, the winners outnumbered the losers. 48 stocks advanced whereas 45 closed lower. Of the 116 counters active on Tuesday, 23 closed flat. 4,233 deals worth KD 19.8 million were transacted – a 13.5 percent jump from the day before.
National Industries Group eased 1 fil to 163 fils while Mezzan Holding dropped 13 fils to 554 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co climbed 11 fils to KD 1.028 and Al Qurain Petrochemical stood pat at 355 fils. Shuaiba Industries ticked 1 fil higher to 198 fils.
Jazeera Airways was flat at 735 fils and ALAFCO clipped 2 fils before closing at 357 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co clipped 2 fils while Equipment Holding and Kuwait Foundry Co were unchanged at 26.6 fils and 180 fils respectively.
Kuwait National Cinema Co soared 45 fils to KD 1.065 and while Independent Petroleum Group shed 10 fils. Kuwait Portland Cement paused at KD 1.124 and ACICO Industries stood pat a 170 fils. Al Rai Media Group dialed up 1.1 fils to end at 65.6 fils.
Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co took in 1 fil and KGL Logistics inched 0.1 fil into red. NICBM fell 3 fils to 185 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co was down 9 fils at 310 fils.
Humansoft Holding dipped 19 fils to KD 3.375 and OSOS gave up 5 fils to wind up at 105 fils. IFA Hotels and Resorts added 1.5 fils and Mashaer Holding tripped 0.5 fil.
In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait fell 2 fils to 837 fils after trading 4.6 million shares and Burgan Bank slipped 3 fils to 290 fils. Warba Bank shed 6 fils and Ahli United Bank dialed up 1 fil to end at 207 fils. Al Ahli Bank rose 2 fils and Al Mutahed stood pat at 300 fils.
Soared
Kuwait International Bank took in 1 fil. KIB’s third quarter profits soared 37.6 pct to KD 3.51 million from KD 2.55 mln in same quarter last year. In the January-September period, earnings grew 15 pct to KD 15.48 million.
National Investment Co and Securities House Co ticked 0.1 fil up each while FACIL dialed down 1 fil. Kuwait Investment Co was flat at 137 fils and Arzan too did not budge from its earlier close of 30 fils. Aayan edged 0.2 fil lower to 36.6 fils.
International Financial Advisors and GIH trimmed 0.3 fil to close at 32.1 fils and 17.6 fils respectively whereas Al Mal Investment fell 0.7 fil to 21.5 fils. Unicap rose 1.3 fils to 71.6 fils and Al Deera Holding clipped 0.5 fil.
Noor Financial Investment Co and KFIC took in 0.6 fil each to end at 63 fils and 34.6 fils respectively whereas Sokouk Holding inched 0.5 fil higher. Al Madina ticked 0.2 fil higher to 22.8 fils and Ektittab Holding closed flat.
Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) fell 3 fils to 100 fils and Al Imtiaz took in 1 fil. Warba Insurance Co added 2 fils and First Takaful dialed up 0.4 fil.
Kuwait Real Estate Co and National Real Estate Co rose 0.4 fil each whereas United Real Estate Co closed held ground at 60 fils. Al Mazaya Holding fell 1.4 fils gto 75.5 fils.
The bourse has been mixed so far during the week falling 9 points in last three sessions and has rallied 64 points so far during the month. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.