Kuwait’s market edges higher, volume shrinks
NBK rallies 5 fils, Zain flat
KUWAIT CITY, Nov 17: Kuwait stocks nudged higher on Sunday was it kicked off the week on a cautious note. The All Shares Index, after a wobbly start, fell 6.75 points to 5,736.22 pts led by some of the blue-chips even as the overall mood remained fickle.
The Premier rose 8.09 points to 6,262.50 pts taking the month’s gains to 51 pts while Premier Market was up 4.02 points at 4,708.72 points. The volume turnover meanwhile dropped following last session’s surge. Over 130 million shares changed hands – down 18.6 pct from the day before.
The sectors closed mostly in green turf. Consumer Services outpaced the rest with 1.34 pct gain whereas Insurance shed 0.29 percent, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, Financial Services topped with over 54 million shares while in value, Bank dominated with KD 8.3 million.
In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait rallied 6 fils to 974 fils taking the month’s gains to 33 fils while KIPCO added 3 fils before settling at 682 fils. Mabanee sprinted 792 fils to 792 fils and Jazeera Airways extended last session’s gains with a 30 fils jump to KD 1.050.
Zain was unchanged at 564 fils while Ooredoo gave up 13 fils to close at 734 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) tripped 1 fil and Agility dialed up 2 fils trimming the month’s losses to 6 fils. Humansoft Holding slipped 7 fils to KD 3.052.
The market opened firm and slipped into red in early trade. The main index plumbed the day’s lowest level of 5,707 pts and pulled higher amid modest bout of buying in some of the heavyweight counters. It traded sideways and peaked at 5,738 points in the final minutes before closing with small gains.
Top gainer of the day, Energy Holding rallied 17.32 percent to 21 fils and Safat Energy sprinted 15 pct to stand next. Thuraya skidded 9.3 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Aayan topped the volume with 19.4 million shares.
Despite the day’s rise, the losers marginally outnumbered the winners. 48 stocks advanced whereas 52 closed lower. Of the 117 counters active on Sunday, 17 closed flat. 4,997 deals worth KD 16.45 million were transacted during the session.
National Industries Group took in 1 fil on back of 1.2 million shares to close at 222 fils while Mezzan Holding stood pat at 565 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co clipped 2 fils before closing at 743 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co added 3 fils before winding up at 317 fils.
Kuwait Cement Co was flat at 240 fils while Kuwait Portland Cement slipped 7 fils to 982 fils. Sharjah Cement Co fell 1.5 fils to 54 fils while Fujairah Cement Co stood pat at 48 fils. Ras Al Khaimah Cement Co clipped 1.1 fils and SPEC ticked 1 fil lower to 73 fils.
Kuwait Foundry Co slid 20 fils to 365 fils while Gulf Cable dialed up 2 fils to close at 478 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co dialed down 2 fils and Warbcap followed suit to end at 61 fils. Equipment Holding took in 0.6 fil on back of 6,.3 million shares.
UPAC soared 27 fils to 427 fils and ACICO Industries inched 1 fil into green. NICBM and KPPC held ground at 162 fils and 49.9 fils respectively whereas KCPC skidded 19 fils to 200 fils. Educational Holding Co added 4 fils before ending at 439 fils.
Combined Group Contracting Co eased 1 fil to 243 fils and Mashaer trimmed 0.7 fil. Gulf Petroleum Investment tripped 0.4 fil and QIC gave up 1.7 fils to settle at 68.3 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co ticked 0.1 fil higher and KGL Logistics clipped 0.3 fil.
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank and Kuwait International Bank tripped 1 fil each tom close at 274 fils and 265 fils respectively whereas Burgan Bank stood pat at 310 filss. Boubyan Bank fell 1 fil to 557fils.
Commercial Bank and Al Ahli Bank paused at 500 fils and 289 fils respectively whereas Al Mutahed edged 1 fil into red. Ahli United Bank gave up 2 fils after trading 2.9 million shares while Warba Bank dialed up 2 fils on back of 3.8 million shares.
Kuwait Investment Co took in 1 fil whereas National Investment Co and Gulf Finance House tripped 1 fil each to close at 123 fils and 70 fils respectively. International Financial Advisors gave up 1.5 fils after trading over 1 million shares. Coast Investment Co edged 0.4 fil up.
Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) eased 0.1 fil to 91.9 fils and FACIL closed 1 fil below the rim. Securities House fell 0.8 fil to 40.1 fils while Arzan and Al Mal Investment tripped 0.2 fil each to end at 23.3 fils and 8.5 fils respectively.
Bayan Investment slipped 1.7 fils to 37.1 fils while Ektittab Holding and Asiya dialed up 0.4 fil each to close at 14.9 fils and 34.5 fils respectively. NIH climbed 4.9 fils to 62 fils and Madar inched 1 fil into green.
KAMCO fell 0.3 fil to 88.8 fils whereas KMEFIC and Al Imtiaz took in 1 fil each. Noor Financial Centre (Markaz) rallied 6 fils on back of 3.5 million shares and Sokouk Holding nudged 0.8 fil higher. Warba Insurance Co slipped 5.4 fils to 64 fils.
National Real Estate Co ticked 0.1 fil higher to 79.9 fils and Aqar trimmed 2 fils. Kuwait Real Estate trimmed 0.7 fil and United Real Estate Co was unchanged at 61 fils.
The bourse has mixed during last week. The main index closed higher in three of the five sessions, gaining 37 points week-on-week. It had added 20 points from the start of the month and is trading 657 pts higher year-to-date. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.