Kuwait wraps up week with modest gains, volume tapers
School canteens ordered shut
KUWAIT CITY, Sept 9: Kuwait stocks pivoted higher Thursday to wrap up the week on a firm footing. The All Shares Index climbed 23.24 points in range-bound trade to 6809.66 pts paced by blue chips and mid-caps even as the broader sentiment turned cheery.
The Premier Market sprinted 21.22 points to 7442.44 points taking yearto-date gains to 1391 points while Main Market scaled 28.73 pts. The BK Main 50 jumped 31.54 points to 5832.82 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile shrank to hit a six-month low. Over 166 million shares changed hands – down 15 pct from the day before.
The sectors closed mostly in green turf. Financial Services outshone the rest with 1.27 percent gain whereas Technology shed 0.98 pct, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise, Financial Services topped with 90.4 million shares and the counter also dominated with KD 12.12 million.
Among the prime movers, Kuwait Finance House rallied 5 fils to 825 fils on back of 2.3 million shares while sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait dialed up 2 fils before ending at 938 fils and has rallied 98 fils yearto-date. Boursa Kuwait Securities sprinted 17 fils to K 1.815 and Egypt Kuwait Holding gained 14 fils.
Zain eased 1 fil to 598 fils after moving 1.4 million shares whereas Ooredoo paced 14 fils to close at 649 fils. stc slipped 4 fils to 858 fils and logistics major Agility was up 3 fils at 992 fils with a volume of 1.8 million. Mabanee Co paced 5 fils recouping Wednesday’s losses and Advanced Technology Co climbed 7 fils to 523 fils.
National Investment Co rose 3 fils to 197 fils while KIPCO and Al Imtiaz Investment dialed up 2 fils each.. KIPCO took in 2 fils after pushing over 1 million shares and Noor Financial Investment rallied 26 fils. Humansoft Holding skidded 50 fils.
National Industries Group inched 1 fils higher to 235 fils after pushing over 10 million shares whereas Gulf Cable clipped 1 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co rose 3 fils to 877 fils whereas Al Qurain Petrochemical Co paused at 374 fils. Jazeera Airways added 2 fils and ALAFCO followed suit to end at 236 fils. Mezzan Holding gave up 5 fils whereas Integrated Holding closed 3 fils in green.
The market opened firm and moved higher in early trade. The main index wobbled between small gains and losses before revving up in the final minutes amid a buying spurt to close with modest gains.
Top gainer of the day, Noor Financial Investment Co soared 9.15 percent to 310 fils while Thuraya sprinted 7.6 pct to stand next. Sanam Real Estate Co skidded 4.13 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Coast Investment and Development Co topped the volume with 15 million shares.
Mirroring the day’s gains, the winners vastly outled the losers. 78 stocks advanced whereas 42 closed lower. Of the 140 counters active on Thursday, 20 closed flat. 8615 deals worth KD 31.6 million were transacted during the session.
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank was unchanged at 238 fils after pushing 4.4 million shares and Kuwait International Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of 224 fils. Burgan Bank inched 1 fil up to 232 fils.
Warba Bank climbed 4 fils to 261 fils and Ahli United Bank BSC closed flat at 270 fils. Al Ahli Bank dialed up 2 fils and Ahli United Bank Kuwait clipped 1 fil. Boubyan Bank stalled at 781 fils.
Kuwait Investment Co rose 4 fils to 259 fils while International Financial Advisors took in 1 fil. Arzan Financial Group was unchanged at 164 fils whereas Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) added 2 fils. Tamdeen Investment slipped 8 fils to 312 fils.
Kuwait Cement Co rose 3 fils to 243 fils while Kuwait Portland Cement paced 5 fils with thin trading. Shuaiba Industrial was up 3 fils at 223 fils while HEISC and Kuwait Foundry Co gained 4 fils each. ACICO Industries took in 1 fil while Metal and Recycling Co closed 3 fils in red. NICBM gave up 3 fils before settling at 195 fils.
Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co ticked 0.30 fil higher to 50.7 fils whereas Automated Systems Co and KCPC trimmed 1 fil each. Educational Holding slipped 11 fils to 700 fils and NAPESCO dialed up 1 fil with thin trading. Sultan Centre was unchanged at 193 fils whereas Arabi Group Holding ended 3 fils in red. Inovest BSC ticked 0.3 fil lower.
Burgan Company and Well Drilling Co slipped 3 fils to 170 fils while Combined Group Contracting Co dialed down 2 fils. United Projects Co dropped 10 fils t 250 fils. Mashaer Holding trimmed 1.7 fils and IFA Hotels and Resorts eased 0.6 fil to 40 fils. Oula Fuel Marketing stood pat at 154 fils while YIACO Medical took in 1 fil.
The market was mixed during the week. The main index closed lower in three of the five sessions erasing 3 points week-on-week. It has slipped 3 points month-to-date and is up 1265 points year-to-date.