KSE edges down 1.18 pts to end week on sour note – KFH up 5 fils, Humansoft Holding surges 80 fils

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KUWAIT CITY, June 23: Kuwait stocks edged down on Thursday to end the week on a sour note. The price index fell 1.18 pts in a slightly volatile trading to close at 5,407.99 pts as Agility talks buoyed some Kharafi stocks.

 The KSX-15 index slid 2.73 pts to close the week at 812.34 pts. The weighted index declined 0.06 pts to 354.21 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile rose 26.05 pct with 66.8 million shares changing hands.

The sectors closed mostly mixed. Oil and gas outpaced the rest with 2.01 pct gain, industrials rose 1.01 pct while telecommunications inched up 0.63 pct. Technology shed 1.35 pct to end as the worst performer for a second day in a row. In terms of volume, financial services topped with 38.65 pct market share while banks climbed 25.07 pct whereas telecommunications and real estate trailed far behind with 14.44 pct and 13.85 pct contributions respectively.

Top gainer of the day, Gulf Franchising Holding Co rose 7.35 pct to close at 36.5 fils while Egypt Kuwait Holding Co climbed 7.27 pct to 118 fils in thin trading. AlMadar Finance and Investment tanked 10.71 pct to 12.5 fil on the back of 1.39 million shares, the biggest decliner of the day. In terms of volume, Hits Telecom Holding Co was up 2.67 pct to top the volume with 9.5 million shares.

Humansoft Holding Co surged 80 fils to close at KD 1.5. United Projects Co and Jazeera Airways Co added 10 fils each to stand at 690 fils and 910 fils respectively while Americana paused at KD 2.5.

The market opened flat but slipped into red in early trade. The price index continued to dive and hit the day’s low of 5,381.73 pts amid broad selling pressure before staging a comeback in the closing minutes to claw back the losses at close.

In the banking sector, Kuwait Finance House was up 5 fils to 460 erasing the losses on Wednesday while Gulf Bank inched up 2 fils and Boubyan Bank dropped 5 fils. Burgan Bank was unchanged and Warba Bank followed suit.

National Bank of Kuwait shed 10 fils partly erasing the gains on Wednesday. Ahli United Bank was down 10 fils to 395 fils whereas Kuwait International Bank shed 6 fils on the back of 7.29 million shares.

Commercial Facilities Co added 6 fils to erase its losses on Wednesday while International Financial Advisors fell 5 fils. KIPCO and Markaz held steady. National Investments Co was down 2 fils after trading 2.3 million shares. National Investments Co has logged a first quarter net profit of KD 1.11 million and earnings per share of 1.3 fils as compared to net profit of over KD 2 million and 2.3 fils in 2015 Q1.

Reflecting

Reflecting the day’s downturn, 118 companies traded on Thursday with the market skewed towards the losers. Of these, 28 stocks gained whereas 53 closed lower and 37 closed flat. 1,858 deals worth KD 8.98 million were transacted, down 14.68 pct from the previous day.

In the real estate sector, United Real Estate Co eased 1 fils to 91 fils and National Real Estate Co shed 2 fils after trading 1.7 million shares. Injazzat dropped 1 fils whereas Al-Mazaya fell 4 fils to close at 116 fils and First Dubai added 2 fils. Ajwan Gulf Real Estate rose 1 fils to stand at 30 fils and Kuwait Real Estate Co was unchanged.

Mabanee Co sank 10 fils. Mabanee Co has posted a net profit of KD 12 million during first quarter and earnings per share of 13.54 fils as against a net profit of KD 11,94 million and earnings per share of 13.46 fils in the same period last year.

Agility was in preliminary talks about potentially investing in Kharafi National on Thursday. National Industries Group rose 2 fils and Zain gained 5 fils to close at 345 fils in thin trading.

VIVA stagnated at 940 fils while Wataniya (Ooredoo) shares were not traded. Automated Systems Co sank 10 fils at KD 0.355 whereas Kuwait Cable Vision Co lost 2.5 fils.

ACICO jumped 5 fils. Boubyan Petrochemicals Co lost 5 fils whereas Qurain Petrochemical Co and Salbookh Trading Co each shed 4 fils. Gulf Cable and Electrical Co plunged 25 fils to 390 fils.

Mushrif Trading and Contracting Co gained 3 fils to close at 68 fils whereas Hayat Communications Co and Oula Fuel eased 1.5 fils and 2 fils respectively. Livestock Transport and Trading Co dialed up 8 fils to close at 198 fils.

Egypt Kuwait Holding Co jumped 8 fils to 118 fils and GFH Financial Group was up 1 fils. Mezzan Holding Co closed flat at KD 1.12 whereas Specialties Group Holding Co dropped 2 fils to close at 74 fils.

By Iliasu Abubakari

Arab Times Staff

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