Kuwait bourse ekes feeble gains

Humansoft Holding soars 225 fils, Mabanee flat

By John Mathews

KUWAIT CITY, April 7: Kuwait stocks ticked higher on Tuesday as it extended its feeble rebound to third straight session. The All Shares Index edged 6.08 pts up in volatile trade to 4,723.25 points helped by some of the heavyweights even as the overall mood remained mixed.

The Premier Market climbed 17.96 points to 5,093.81 pts paring the month’s gains to 105 points while Main Market was down 17.76 pts at 5,093 points. The BK 50 Main dropped 23.85 points. The volume turnover meanwhile rose for the second straight session to hit the month’s highest level. Over 159 million shares changed hands – a 31 percent jump from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in the green turf. Technology outshone the rest with 10 percent gain whereas Real Estate fell 0.78 percent, the worst performer of the day. Banking sector continued to top in both volume and value with 91.9 million shares worth KD 27.5 million.

In the individual shares, Kuwait Finance House took in 2 fils on back of 12.4 million shares to close at 623 fils while Boubyan Bank extended last session’s gains with 3 fils rise to 495 fils. Mabanee Co stood pat at 635 fils after notching impressive gains on Monday and KAMCO sprinted 5.5 fils to 75 fils.

Zain climbed 5 fils on back of 14.9 million shares to 477 fils while Ooredoo dipped 17 fils to 568 fils. STC gave up 4 fils before settling at 740 fils and Agility slipped 6 fils to 579 fils.

The market opened firm and inched up in early trade.

The main index scaled the day’s highest level of 4,725 pts and fell sharply into red to bottom at 4,702 points. It vacillated thereafter between small losses and gains before closing in the green territory.

Top gainers of the day, Automated Systems Co and Humansoft Holding soared 10 pct each to close at 67.1 fils and 2.475 fils respectively whereas Tameer skidded 9.72 percent, the steepest decliner of the day. Ahli United Bank topped the volume with over 20 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s uptick, the winners slightly outnumbered the losers. 47 stocks advanced whereas 43 closed lower. Of the 104 counters active on Tuesday, 14 closed flat. 11,743 deals worth KD 42 million were transacted during the session.

National Industries Group eased 1fil to 144 fils after pushing 1.8 million shares while Mezzan Holding scaled 18 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co paused at 495 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co gained 4 fils. Integrated Holding Co did not budge from its earlier close of 425 fils.

Jazeera Airways slipped 4 fils to 496 fils and ALAFCO gave up 3 fils. Kuwait Cement Co dropped 8 fils to 151 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement added 5 fils. Gulf Cable took in 2 fils and Kuwait Foundry jumped 17 fils to 229 fils.

In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait inched 1 fil up on back of over 8 million shares while Gulf Bank closed flat at 202 fils. Burgan Bank eased 1 fil and Kuwait International Bank clipped 2 fils.

The market has been trending higher so far during the week adding 21 points in the last three sessions. It had skidded 1,250 points during whole of March and is trading 1,514 pts lower year-to-date