Kuwait’s stock benchmark kicks off week with modest gain
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 24: Kuwait stocks swung higher on Sunday as it kicked off the week on an uppish note. The All Shares Index climbed 27.34 points in choppy session to 5,714.51 points extending its gains to fifth straight session.
The Premier Market jumped 37.56 points to 6,238.65 pts taking the month’s gains 187 points to while Main Market added 6.27 pts. The BK Main 50 scaled 21.81 points to close at 4,865.78 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile rose slightly following Thursday’s dip. Over 256 million shares changed hands – a 7.5 pct increase from the previous session.
The sectors closed mixed. Industries outshone the rest with 1 pct gain whereas Technology shed 2 percent, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise, Financial Services continued to top the volume with 106.3 million shares while banking sector dominated the value with KD 18.7 million.
Among the standout performers, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait rallied 5 fils on back of 4.9 million shares to 860 fils while Warba Bank gained 7 fils after pushing over 7 million shares. Gulf Bank added 3 fils with brisk trading and Burgan Bank followed suit to end at 216 fils. Kuwait National Cinema Co jumped 23 fils to 779 fils.
Zain dialed up 2 fils on back of 2.4 million shares to close at 633 fils whereas Ooredoo gave up 4 fils. stc fell 3 fils to 910 fils and logistics major Agility sprinted 11 fils. Humansoft Holding stood pat at KD 3.650 whereas Boursa Kuwait Securities darted 12 fils to KD 1.175. NAPESCO slid 35 fils to 992 fils.
KIPCO inched 1 fil higher to 163 fils and KAMCO ticked 0.2 fil into green. Kuwait Investment Co took in 1 fil on back of 1.2 million shares while National Investment Co and Unicap added 3 fils each. Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) inched 0.9 fil higher to 83 fils and Tamdeen Investment Co shed 13 fils. KMEFIC scaled 4 fils to close at 148 fils whereas Bayan Investment trimmed 0.5 fil.
The market opened gap down and swung higher in early trade. The main index vacillated in a broad range before scaling the day’s highest level of 5,716 points half way into the session amid buying spurt in some of the counters and sagged slightly into red. It revved up again in the final minutes to close with modest gains.
Top gainer of the day, Kuwait Portland Cement soared 10.54 pct to 923 fils while UNICAP scaled 7.6 percent to stand next. Marakez skidded 5.8 percent, the steepest decliner of the day while Arzan topped the volume with over 19 million shares.
Reflecting the day’s gains, the winners outnumbered the losers. 66 stocks advanced whereas 56 closed lower. Of the 139 counters active on Sunday, 17 closed flat. 10,127 deals worth KD 42.4 million were transacted during the session.
In the banking sector, Kuwait Finance House rose 2 fils to 705 fils on back of 7.9 million shares and Boubyan Bank followed suit. Kuwait International Bank inched 1 fil higher and Ahli United Bank was up 3 fils at 222 fils. Al Ahli Bank took in 1 fil.
National Industries Group rose 4 fils on back of 9.5 million shares while Mezzan Holding held ground at 587 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co gave up 3 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co clipped 2 fils before settling at 360 fils. Integrated Holding Co gained 5 fils whereas Aznour was down 2 fils at 273 fils. Al Kout Industries dipped 33 fils.
Jazeera Airways skidded 16 fils to 726 fils while ALAFCO tripped 1 fil. United Projects Co scaled 8 fils whereas Burgan Company for Well Drilling and YIACO Medical dialed down 1 fil each. OSOS rose 4.2 fils to 85.3 fils and Mashaer Holding eased 0.1 fil. Soor Fuel took in 1 fil and Oula Fuel added 2 fils to close at 125 fils.
Kuwait Cement Co was unchanged at 242 fils and Gulf Cable sprinted 7 fils to 775 fils. Shuaiba Industries slipped 5 fils to 145 fils whereas Independent Petroleum Group and Metal and Recycling Co paused at 145 fils and 96 fils respectively. ACICO Industries dialed up 1.1 fils and Educational Holding Co gave up 4 fils to end at 326 fils.
Automated Systems Co eased 1.5 fils to 71 fils and KCPC trimmed 1 fil. Combined Group Contracting Co rose 3 fils to 217 fils and IFA Hotels and Resorts ticked 0.7 fil higher. Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co edged 0.6 fil higher to 54.2 fils and Al Rai Media clipped 1.4 fils. Al Bareeq Holding closed 1.3 fils in green.
The market was largely upbeat during the previous week. The main index closed higher in four of the five sessions, gaining 31 points week-onweek. It has rallied 168 points from start of the month after tumbling 736 points during whole of 2020.