Kuwait index extends gains in volatile trade

KFH rallies 11 fils, Humansoft dips

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 29: Kuwait stocks pulled higher on Thursday as it extended its gains from the previous session. The All Shares Index climbed 28.91 points in volatile session to 6,344.69 pts led by some of the heavyweights and midcaps.

The Premier Market jumped 34.59 pts to 7,059.41 points while Main Market rose 17.34 points to 4,929.20 pts taking the month’s gains to 19 points. The volume turnover meanwhile bounced to a multi-month high. Over 445 million shares changed hands – a 42 pct surge from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in green. Consumer Goods outpaced the rest with 1.47 percent gain whereas Oil and Gas shed 0.64 percent, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise Financial Services topped with 269.2 million shares while in value, Banks dominated with KD 30.4 million.

Among the prime movers, Kuwait Finance House rallied 11 fils to 834 fils on back of 12.2 million shares while Boubyan Bank rose 4 fils to 654 fils. Tamdeen Investment sprinted 36 fils to 399 fils with thin trading. Humansoft Holding skidded 21 fils to KD 3.118.

Zain slipped 6 fils to 580 fils after trading 7.3 million shares while Ooredoo stood pat at 780 fils with thin volume and has gained 52 points during the month. STC jumped 13 fils to 780 fils while Agility climbed 9 fils on back of over 3 million shares as it extended last session’s gains.

The market opened firm and headed north in early trade. The main index seesawed briefly and slipped into red to plumb the day’s lowest level of 6,321 pts almost an hour into the session. It revved up thereafter amid spurt in buying and peaked at 6,352 pts before closing with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, Amar Finance rallied 17.8 percent to 58.1 fils and Arzan soared 17 pct to stand next. Abyaar skidded 10.5 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and ALOLA topped the volume with 87.4 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s gains, the gainers outnumbered the losers. 64 stocks advanced whereas 49 closed lower. Of the 134 counters active on Thursday, 21 closed flat. 11,016 deals worth KD 58.2 million were transacted during the session.

National Industries Group eased 1 fil to 244 fils after trading 4.2 million shares while Mezzan Holding sprinted 9 fils to 489 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co rose 4 fils to 684 fils while Al Qurain Petrochemical Co took in 1 fil before ending at 308 fils. Integrated Holding Co paused at 585 fils.

Jazeera Airways dropped 14 fils to KD 1.069 while ALAFCO clipped 2 fils before settling at 247 fils. EK Holding and UPAC stood pat at 395 fils and 500 fils respectively while AGHC tripped 1 fil. Sultan Centre ticked 0.6 fil higher to 55.5 fils.

Kuwait Portland Cement eased 1 fil to 969 fils and Kuwait Cement Co gave up 6 fils before closing at 241 fils. Gulf Cement Co added 2.8 fils while Fujairah Cement Co closed 1.5 fils in green. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co fell 3 fils to 404 fils and Equipment Holding edged 0.5 fil up to 19.4 fils.

Kuwait Foundry Co sprinted 6 fils to 328 fils and ACICO Industries clipped 2 fils. NICBM was down 10 fils at 160 fils and Salbookh tripped 1.8 fils. Safat Energy was unchanged at 22.4 fils and Energy Holding took in 0.8 fil before ending at 22.8 fils.

Combined Group Contracting Co stood pat at 251 fils and IFA Hotels and Resorts rose 5.6 fils to 61.7 fils. KCPC climbed 4 fils to 264 fils and KPPC edged 0.9 fil into green. AAN gave up 1.5 fils and Muntazahat closed flat at 59.3 fils. Gulf Petroleum Investment dialed up 0.9 fil and Independent Petroleum Group slipped 5 fils.

Educational Holding Co soared 30 fils to 390 fils and SPEC clipped 1.6 fils. Burgan Well Drilling Co dropped 7.8 fils to 70.5 fils and Inovest added 1.7 fils. Al Rai Media Group trimmed 0.5 fil and Soor Fuel gained 3 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co took in 2.2 fils and KGL Logistics ticked 0.5 fil up.

In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait was unchanged at

KD 1.060 with a volume of 8.5 million and Gulf Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of 312 fils. Burgan Bank took in 2 fils before settling at 308 fils.

Ahli United Bank rallied 6 fils on back of 25.8 million shares and Warba Bank dialed up 2 fils. Al Ahli Bank tripped 1 fil while Al Mutahed and Kuwait International Bank stood pat at 336 fils and 283 fils respectively.

KIPCO fell 2 fils to 209 fils and Gulf Finance House inched 0.4 fils lower after pushing 2.8 million shares. Kuwait Investment Co and National Investment Co gained 3 fils each on back of 3 million shares while FACIL clipped 2 fils.

Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) was flat at 111 fils and Arzan climbed 6 fils with brisk trading. Coast Investment Co dialed up 2.9 fils and Securities House trimmed 0.6 fil. International Financial Advisers closed 1.8 fils in green on back of over 2.6 million shares.

KAMCO climbed 6 fils to 98 fils and Osoul took in 1.9 fils to close at 85 fils. KMEFIC took in 0.9 fil and Al Aman ticked 1.4 fils into red. ALOLA rose 3.8 fils with heavy trading while GIH edged 0.2 fil higher. Al Salam and Ektittab Holding dialed up 0.3 fil each while Sokouk Holding took in 1.1 fils on back of 7.3 million shares.

Noor Financial Centre rose 3 fils to 180 fils on back of over 5 million shares and KSHC paused at 32 fils. Asiya added 2.1 fils and GHAHC ticked 0.2 fil into green. Al Imtiaz and Kuwait Insurance Co paused at 130 fils and 345 fils respectively.

Mabanee Co eased 1 fil to 914 fils while Tamdeen Real Estate and AREEC dialed down 2 fils each. AQAR gave up 4.8 fils and Mazaya Holding crept 0.8 fil up on back of over 5 million shares.

Kuwait Real Estate Co took in 1 fil with a volume of 7.8 million shares and United Real Estate inched 0.5 fil higher. Salhiya Real Estate fell 3 fils to 444 fils and Sanam was down 3.9 fils at 35.6 fils.

The market has been mixed so far during the week and has given up 36 points in last four sessions . The main index has climbed 62 points from start of the month after rallying 1,203 points during whole of last year.