Kuwait’s stock index edges lower in range bound trade
KUWAIT CITY, Sept 27: Kuwait stocks edged lower on Monday, snapping the three-day advance. The All Shares Index slipped 7.85 points in range bound trade to 6,870.18 pts weighed mostly by blue chips even as the overall mood remained mixed.
The Premier Market dropped 14.59 points to 7,502.23 pts paring the month’s gains to 71 points while Main Market paced 7.65 pts. The BK Main 50 index was up 5.52 points at 5,900.53 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile saw a marginal pullback following the two-day rise. Over 329 million shares changed hands – down 12 pct from the day before.
The sectors closed mostly in green. Technology outshone the rest with 2.19 pct gain while Utilities shed 0.55 percent, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise, Financial Services topped with 109.4 million shares and the sector also dominated in value with KD 12.8 million.
Among notable losers, National Bank of Kuwait fell 2 fils to 956 fils after pushing over 2 million shares and Boubyan Bank followed suit to close at 770 fils. Mabanee Co gave up 6 fils before ending at 779 fils and KIPCO tripped 1 fil. Noor Financial Investment Co shed 11 fils and Tamdeen Investment Co was down 17 fils at 339 fils. NAPESCO dropped 9 fils to 799 fils.
Zain inched 1fil higher to 601 fils on back of 3.9 million shares whereas Ooredoo stood pat at 642 fils. stc too was unchanged at 855 fils and logistics major Agility dialed up 2 fils. National Investment Co too added 2 fils and Al Imtiaz Investment paused at 132 fils. Boursa Securities Co sprinted 9 fils to KD 1.849 extending last session’s gains.
National Industries Group eased 1 fil to 244 fils after moving over 5 million shares whereas Gulf Cable scaled 9 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co slipped 4 fils to 872 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co gave up 3 fils. Jazeera Airways stalled 839 fils and ALAFCO too did not budge from its previous close of 228 fils. Mezzan Holding and Aznour dialed down 2 fils each whereas Integrated Holding closed 2 fils in green. Humansoft Holding clipped 2 fils.
The market opened firm and slipped briefly in early trade before pivoting higher. The main index scaled the day’s highest level of 6886 points and drifted south as sentiment turned soggy. It see sawed thereafter in a medium band before closing with small losses.
Top gainer of the day, HCC spiked 9.88 pct to 178 fils while Kuwait Hotels sprinted 9.73 percent to stand next. Tamdeeen Investment shed 4.78 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Gulf Petroleum Investment topped the volume with 51.9 million shares.
Despite the day’s slight fall, the winners outnumbered the losers. 60 stocks advanced whereas 50 closed lower. Of the 137 counters active on Monday, 27 closed flat. 11,642 deals worth KD 44.45 million were transacted during the session.
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank was unchanged at 238 fils after pushing over 7 million shares and Burgan Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of 228 fils. Kuwait International Bank and Kuwait Finance House trimmed 1 fil each to close at 224 fils and 824 fils respectively.
Ahli United Bank BSC slipped 3 fils to 282 fils after pushing 6.5 million share whereas Warba Bank dialed up 2 fils. Commercial Bank and Al Ahli Bank paused at 500 fils and 223 fils respectively and Ahli United Bank Kuwait too did not buge from its earlier close 320 fils.
Kuwait Investment Co took in 2 fils whereas Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) clipped 2 fils. KMEFIC shed 6 fils while Gulf Investment House paced 8 fils.
Kuwait Cement Co eased 1 fil to 245 fils whereas Kuwait Portland Cement paced 4 fils. Hilal Cement galloped 16 fils to 178 fils with razor thin trading whereas HEISC and Shuaiba Industrial clipped 1 fil each. Kuwait Foundry Co took in 1 fil and Metal and Recycling Co followed suit. NCCI jumped 12 fils to 147 fills with brisk trading and Salbookh added 1.8 fils. Warba Capital Holding whittled down 2.5 fils.
Kuwait Hotels Co climbed 7.8 fils to 88 fils whereas Educational Holding was unchanged at 699 fils. Sultan Centre took in 2 fils while Arabi Group Holding and KCPC gave up 4 fils each before settling at 192 fils and 146 fils respectively. Automated Systems Co took in 2.1 fils whereas Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co trimmed 0.3 fils.
Advanced Technology Co rose 3 fils to 512 fils and Egypt Kuwait Holding scaled 6 fils. Burgan Company For Well Drilling climbed 3 fils to 173 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co added 2 fils. OSOS Holding Group clipped 1.7 fils while United Projects Co slipped 5 fils to 245 fils. Oula Fuel Marketing was flat at 169 fils and Soor Fuel Marketing dialed down 2 fils.
The market has been mixed so far during the week and has slipped 6 points in last two sessions. It has rallied 57 points month-to-date and is up 1324 points year-to-date.