Kuwaiti bourse closes down in volatile trade
Gulf Bank dips 7 fils, NAPESCO soars
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 9: Kuwait stocks slipped into red on Wednesday after treading water in the previous session. The All Shares Index dropped 29.7 pts in volatile session to 5,689.65 points weighed by blue chips even as trading floor mood turned negative.
The Premier Market skidded 42.23 pts to 6,194.13 points trimming the month’s gains to 20 points while Main Market fell 3.8 points to 4,707.31 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile receded for the second straight session. Over 106 million shares changed hands – down 14.5 pct from the day before.
The sectors closed mostly in red. Oil and Gas outpaced the rest with 2.32 pct gain whereas Consumer Good dipped 2.31 percent, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, Banks topped with 32.9 million shares and the sector also were ahead in value with KD 12.5 million.
Among the notable losers, National Bank of Kuwait slipped 7 fils to 946 fils after trading 2.4 million shares and Gulf Bank followed suit to close at 276 fils and the counter saw over 8 million shares change hands. Kuwait Finance House was down 5 fils at 680 fils.
Zain fell 3 fils to 544 fils after pushing 2.8 million shares during the session while Ooredoo stood pat at 712 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) rose 4 fils to 735 fils and Agility dialed down 2 fils before settling at 740 fils. Humansoft Holding climbed 6 fils to KD 3.145.
The market opened firm and drifted lower in early trade. The main index held steady for almost an hour and slipped deeper into red as selling weighed most of the heavyweights. It bottomed at 5,681 pts almost half way into the session and bounced back before heading south again to close with moderate losses.
Top gainer of the day, Al Eid rallied 9.9 percent to 55.4 fils and Bayan Investment Co sprinted 9 pct to stand next. Danah tumbled 31.4 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Ajwan topped the volume with 15.5 million.
Mirroring the day’s losses, the market spread was heavily skewed towards the losers. 34 stocks advanced whereas 62 closed lower. Of the 109 counters active on Wednesday, 13 closed flat. 5,030 deals worth KD 19.6 million were transacted during the session.
National Industries Group fell 2 fils to 226 fils after pushing 3.3 million shares at the counter while Mezzan Holding skidded 16 fils to 533 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co dropped 10 fils to 753 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co held ground at 309 fils. Integrated Holding Co jumped 16 fils to 434 fils.
Jazeera Airways ticked 1 fil higher to 986 fils and ALAFCO tripped 1 fil before closing at 266 fils. Mashaer Holding took in 1 fil while SPEC and IFA Hotels and Resorts eased 0.1 fil each to close at 69.9 fils and 51.9 fils respectively. Ajwam added 0.9 fil with brisk trading to close at 13.9 fils.
Kuwait Portland Cement Co ticked 1 fil higher to KD 1.101 and Kuwait Cement Co was up 3 fils at 261 fils. Sharjah Cement Co tripped 0.4 fil and Gulf Cement Co paused at 55.3 fils. QIC slipped 5.1 fils to 53.8 fisl and Energy Holding closed 1.1 fils below the rim. AAN inched 0.1 fil up.
Kuwait Foundry Co dropped 9 fils to 458 fils while NICBM and Salbookh were unchanged at 165 fils and 40.7 fils respectively. Equipment Holding took in 0.2 fil and KPPC gave up 1.2 fils to close at 50.8 fils. Gulf Cable clipped 1 fil to end at 463 fils.
NAPESCO soared 69 fils to KD 1.099 and Combined Group Contracting Co tripped 1 fil. KGL Logistics eased 0.1 fil to 35.8 fils and NICBM was flat at 165 fils. Al Rai Media Group edged 0.1 fil higher to 40.1 fils and Gulf Petroleum Investment clipped 1.3 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co dialed up 1 fil.
In the banking sector, Burgan Bank dropped 6 fils to 307 fils and Kuwait International Bank gave up 4 fils to close at 266 fils with a volume of 3.7 million. Boubyan Bank inched 1 fil lower to 562 fils and Warba Bank fell 3 fils to 251 fils after trading 2.5 million shares.
Al Ahli Bank was unchanged at 299 fils and Al Mutahed was down 4 fils at 324 fils. Ahli United Bank eased 1 fil to 273 fils after trading 10.2 million shares. Commercial Bank was not traded during the session.
KIPCO slipped 3 fils to 218 fils and Gulf Finance House added 0.4 fil to settle at 71.2 fils. International Financial Advisors tripped 0.1 fil while National Investment Co and Kuwait Investment Co fell 2 fils each. Coast Investment Co ticked 0.1 fil up and Securities House inched 0.2 fil into red.
Bayan Investment rose 3.4 fils to 41 fils and GIIH closed 1.4 fils above the rim. Arzan trimmed 0.3 fil and ALOLA followed suit. Aayan eased 1 fil to 55 fils after trading over 8 million shares. Al Mal ticked 0.1 fil higher to 10.4 fils and Madar Finance was down 4 fils at 121 fils.
KAMCO gained 4 fils and KFIC dialed up 0.9 fil. NIH eased 0.3 fils to 60 fils while Al Deera Holding and Sokouk Holding eased 0.1 fil into red. Unicap gave up 1.4 fils and KSHC took in 1.4 fils.
Noor Financial Investment fell 1.5 fils to 90 fils and Amwal gave up 0.9 fil. Al Imtiaz fell 3 fils to 123 fils after trading over 1 million shares and Wethaq Takaful dialed up 1 fil.
Mabanee Co rose 3 fils to 737 fils and Kuwait Real Estate trimmed 0.8 fil. National Real Estate Co gave up 0.6 fil and Salhiya Real Estate paused at 330 fils. AREEC and Injazzat gained 3 fils each while AQAR climbed 5 fils to 75 fils.
The bourse has been mixed so far during the week gaining 53 points in last four sessions. It has added 11 points from start of the month and is trading 612 pts higher year-to-date. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.