Kuwait bourse ekes out modest gains in choppy session
KUWAIT CITY, Sept 7: Kuwait stocks pulled higher on Tuesday stemming the three-day retreat. The All Shares Index climbed 17.36 points in choppy session to 6,803.87 pts led mostly by mid-caps even as the broader sentiment turned positive.
The Premier Market rose 9.09 points to 7,438.91 pts taking the year-to-date gains to 1,387 points while Main Market scaled 37.24 pts. The BK Main 50 index was up 20.85 points at 5,834.05 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile saw a modest rebound following the two-day drop. Over 226 million shares changed hands – a 24 percent jump from the day before.
The sectors closed mostly in green turf. Insurance sector outshone the rest with 4.28 percent gain whereas Healthcare shed 0.45 pct, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, Real Estate topped with 109.48 million shares while Banking sector was ahead in value with KD 9.25 million.
In the individual shares, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait was unchanged at 938 fils after moving 3.2 million shares and Gulf Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of 240 fils. Kuwait Finance House took in 1 fil on back of over 3 million shares whereas Humansoft Holding skidded 16 fils to KD 3.404. Boursa Kuwait Securities climbed 24 fils to KD 1.735.
Zain inched 1 fil higher to 598 fils on back of 2.2 million shares whereas Ooredoo dipped 15 fils to 633 fils. stc stood pat at 864 fils and logistics major Agility too did not budge from its earlier close of 996 fils after pushing over 2 million shares. NAPESCO galloped 41 fils to 830 fils extending Monday’s gains.
KIPCO inched 1 fil up to 155 fils whereas National Investment Co and Al Imtiaz Investment Co clipped 1 fil each. Mabanee Co was unchanged at 785 fils whereas Tamdeen Investment gave up 8 fils. Mezzan Holding and Aznour dialed up 1 fil each whereas Integrated Holding Co stalled at 371 fils. Advanced Technology dropped 12 fils to 515 fils.
National Industries Group was flat at 232 fils whereas Gulf Cable climbed 7 fils to 817 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co paused at 874 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co gained 4 fils. Jazeera Airways added 2 fils before settling at 850 fils while ALAFCO edged 1 fil into green. United Projects Co paced 6 fils.
The market opened firm and moved higher in early trade. The main index retreated in choppy trade to plumb the day’s lowest level of 6,787 points ahead of the mid-session. It headed north again amid buying spurt and closed with modest gains.
Top gainer of the day, QIC soared 17.93 percent to 80.9 fils while Gulf Insurance sprinted 9.6 percent to stand next. Kuwait Hotels skidded 9.7 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Investors Holding topped the volume with over 87 million shares.
Mirroring the day’s gains, the market spread was skewed towards the winners. 71 stocks advanced whereas 29 closed lower. Of the 141 counters active on Tuesday, 29 closed flat. 8270 deals worth KD 30.9 million were transacted during the session.
Kuwait Cement Co was unchanged at 240 fils whereas Kuwait Portland Cement shed 11 fils to close at 947 fils. Metal and Recycling Co slipped 7 fils to 118 fils while Kuwait Foundry Co and ACICO Industries dialed up 2 fils each. HEISC sprinted 12 fils to 485 fils whereas NICBM clipped 2 fils.
Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co eased 0.4 fil to 50.5 fils whereas Automated Systems Co inched 1 fil higher to 102 fils. Sultan Centre edged 1 fil up to 199 fils and Arabi Group Holding paced 4 fils. Educational Holding Co rose 3 fils to 702 fils and Inovest inched 1 fil into green.
Burgan Company For Well Drilling rose 2 fils to 171 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co scaled 8 fils. OSOS Holding Group crept 0.9 fil higher to 98.9 fils whereas Mashaer Holding trimmed 1 fil. Egypt Kuwait Holding rose 5 fils to 365 fils
In the banking sector, Burgan Bank fell 2 fils to 232 fils whereas Kuwait International Bank and Boubyan paused at 226 fils and 787 fils respectively. Commercial Bank climbed 5 fils to 510 fils while Al Ahli Bank tripped 1 fil. Warba Bank clipped 1 fil whereas Ahli United Bank BSC added 2 fils on back of 5.8 million shares. Ahli United Bank Kuwait stood pat at 321 fils.
Kuwait Investment Co fell 2 fils to 257 fils after moving 3.5 million shares whereas International Financial Advisors paused at 129 fils. Arzan Financial Group and Kuwait Finance Centre (Markaz) rose 3 fils each while KMEFIC dialed up 2 fils. Gulf Investment House gave up 2 fils while KAMCO added 2 fils. Noor Financial Investment ticked 1 fil higher to 287 fils.
The market has been mixed so far during the week and is down 9 points in last three sessions. It is has scaled 17 points month-to-date and is up 1,259 points year-to-date.