Kuwait bourse extends gains, as volume turnover recedes
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 20: Kuwait benchmark notched feeble rise on Wednesday extending the gains to third straight session. The All Shares Index gained 7.99 points in volatile trade to 5,681.16 points paced by select counters even as the broader sentiment turned cautiously positive.
The Premier Market climbed 10.54 points to 6,202.11 pts taking the month’s gains to 151 pts while Main Market added 2.74 points. The volume turnover, meanwhile, slipped slightly following last session’s surge. Over 315 million shares changed hands – a 6 pct rise from Tuesday.
The sectors closed mostly in green turf. Utilities outshone the rest with 2.25 pct gain whereas Technology sector shed 2 percent, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise, Financial Services topped with 133.2 million shares while Banking Sector dominated with KD 10.3 million.
In the individual shares, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait rose 3 fils on back of over 3 million shares to 856 fils whereas Mabanee Co dialed up 2 fils. Tamdeen Investment skidded 40 fils to 290 fils while YIACO soared 70 fils to 780 fils. NAPESCO swung 33 fils up to KD 1.024.
Zain slipped 3 fils to 629 fils after pushing 3.8 million shares and Ooredoo gave up 7 fils to close at 683 fils. stc darted 6 fils to 905 fils while Agility scaled 7 fils on back of over 2 million shares. Humansoft Holding jumped 20 fils to KD 3.670 and Boursa Securities House was up 7 fils at KD 1.150.
KIPCO was unchanged at 159 fils whereas KAMCO ticked 0.1 fil higher to 73.1 fils. International Financial Advisors and Bayan Investment took in 0.8 fil whereas Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) stood pat at 83.5 fils. KMEFIC added 3 fils while National Investment Co trimmed 1 fil. Osoul Investment rose 2.8 fils whereas Noor Financial Investment erased 2 fils.
The market opened on a tame note and pulled higher in early. The main index scaled the day’s highest level of 5686 points before retreating amid a bout of selling. It bottomed at 5,666 points ahead of the mid-session and clawed back into the green zone in the second half and ended with small gains.
Top gainer of the day, Metal and Recycling Co soared 20.6 percent to 95.3 fils while Thuraya jumped 19.43 pct to stand next. Tamdeen Investment skidded 12.12 percent, the steepest decliner of the day while ALOLA topped the volume with 44.6 million shares.
Mirroring the day’s gains, the market spread was skewed towards the winners. 72 stocks advanced whereas 47 closed lower. Of the 137 counters active on Wednesday, 18 closed flat. 10, 547 deals worth KD 35.3 million were transacted during the session.
National Industries Group added 2 fils on back of 2.9 million shares while Mezzan Holding rose 5 fils after pushing 1.2 million shares. Boubyan Petrochemical Co fell 4 fils to 663 fils whereas Al Qurain Petrochemical Co took in 1 fil. Integrated Holding stood pat at 359 fils while Aznour paced 6 fils.
Jazeera Airways added 2 fils whereas ALAFCO eased 1 fils to 229 fils. Mashaer Holding and Mubarrad Transport took in 0.5 fil each to close at 60 fils and 78 fils respectively. Soor Fuel and Oula Fuel were both flat at 122 fils whereas Inovest inched 0.9 fil. UPAC gave up 3 fils.
Kuwait Cement Co climbed 4 fils to 244 fils while Kuwait Portland Cement darted 16 fils to 820 fils. Gulf Cable clipped 1 fil and Kuwait Foundry Co scaled 14 fils to close at 295 fils. ACICO Industries eased 1.3 fils to 90.7 fils whereas Kuwait Gulf Links Transport Co stalled at 53.5 fils.
KCPC slipped 3 fils to 431 fils while Automated Systems Co tripped 1.5 fils.
Educational Holding was down 4 fils at 330 fils and Independent Petroleum Group paced 5 fils. Gulf Petroleum Investment eased 0.2 fil to 20.2 fils. Burgan Well Drilling Co dialed up 2 fils and IFA Hotels and Resorts ticked 0.2 fil into green.
Combined Group Contracting Co moved 6 fils up to 214 fils on back of 1.6 million shares and OSOS gave up 4.4 fils to close at 85.1 fils. United Projects Co whittled down 3 fils and Al Bareeq Holding clipped 1.5 fils.
In the Banking Sector, Kuwait Finance House edged 1 fil up to 856 fils on back of over 3 million shares whereas Burgan Bank tripped 1 fil. Gulf Bank and Kuwait International Bank added 1 fil each to close at 218 fils and 210 fils respectively. Boubyan Bank trimmed 1 fil and Warba Bank followed suit. Ahli United Bank stood pat at 220 fils.
The market has been largely upbeat so far during the week, gaining 25 points in last four sessions. It has rallied 135 points from start of the month after tumbling 736 points during whole of 2020.