Kuwait bourse closes in red; volume surges – NBK slips 4 fils; Humansoft retreats

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KUWAIT CITY, July 17: Kuwait stocks sagged on Monday partly reversing last session’s gains. The bourse fell 7.97 pts in choppy trade to 6,800.91 pts even as investors digested the first half results. The broader sentiment however remained mixed..

The KSX 15 benchmark edged 0.17 pts higher to 924.76 points while weighted index trimmed 0.17 pts to end at 405.33 points. The volume turnover meanwhile rebounded after Sunday’s uptick. 78.3 million shares changed hands —  a 54.32 pct surge from Sunday.

The sectors closed mixed. Industrials outpaced the rest with 0.66 pct gain whereas technology slid 4.52 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services notched the highest market share of 48 percent while real estate trailed with 21.96 percent contribution.

In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait slipped 4 fils to 683 fils after trading 1.8 million shares and KIPCO clipped 2 fils to settle at 342 fils. Mabanee Co recouped Sunday’s losses with 3 fils rise to 759 fils and Humansoft Holding retreated 30 fils to KD 4.320.

Zain was flat at 428 fils with a volume of 1.4 million and Ooredoo was unchanged at KD 1.150 with thin trading. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) climbed 13 fils to 825 fils and Agility gained 12 fils on back of 1.3 million shares.

Gulf Bank fell 2 fils to 242 fils and Kuwait Finance House rose 3 fils to 501 fils. The bank’s profit grew 17.1 percent to KD 43.06 m in the second quarter of 2017 as compared to the same period in the year before. In the first half, the earnings of 15.2 pct to KD 81.65 million.

The market opened on a choppy note and vacillated in early trade. The price index peaked at 6,821.30 pts and retreated thereafter as selling dominated the trading floor. It hit the day’s lowest level of 6,782.72 points in the final minutes before clawing back most of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, National Cleaning Co rallied 13 pct to 52 fils and Aqar Real Estate Co climbed 12.7 percent to stand next. Masaken tumbled 13.33 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and National Industries Group topped the volume with over 8 million shares.

The market spread was nearly even. 49 stocks advanced whereas 47 closed lower. Of the 121 counters active on Monday, 25 closed flat. 3028 deals worth KD 14.8 million were transacted — a 62.4 pct surge in value from the day before.

Gulf Cable rose 2 fils to 435 fils and NICBM was up 3 fils at 180 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co added 4 fils while Metal and Recycling Co stood pat at 108 fils. Equipment Holding eased 0.1 fil to 50 fils.

Jazeera Airways advanced 4 fils to 484 fils and ALAFCO dipped 10 fils to 350 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co tripped 1 fil and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co gave up 2 fils. Educational Holding Group ticked 1 fil into green.

Shed

Automated Systems Co shed 20 fils and Kuwait National Cinema jumped 50 fils. The company’sprofits swelled 26.17% in the first quarter of 2017 to KD 3.23 mln in from KD 2.56 million in the same period last year. Net operating profit surged 61.3 pct to KD 1.3 million.

Burgan Well Drilling Co dialed up 2 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co was down 4 fils at 613 fils. AWJ Holding added 2.5 fils and OSOS slipped 3 fils to 130 fils.

Zimah Holding trimmed 0.9 fil to wind up at 52 fils while Mezzan Holding tripped 2 fils partly paring last session’s gains. Al Rai Media Group was unchanged at 52 fils.

In the banking sector, Al Ahli Bank and AlMutahed were flat at 322 fils and 405 fils respectively whereas Commercial Bank inched 1 fil higher to 325 fils.

Burgan Bank fell 1 fil to 335 fils and Kuwait International Bank was up 2 fils at 250 fils. Boubyan Bank paused at 407 fils and Warba Bank diald up 2 fils.

National Investment Co slipped 1 fil to 101 fils and International Financial Advisors edged 0.5 fil into red. Coast Investment Co fell 1.6 fils to 38.2 fils and KMEFIC gave up 2.5 fils. Aayan Investment Co eased 0.3 fil to 42.2 fils.

KAMCO took in 0.9 fil and Unicap added 3 fils. The company’s ordinary general meeting of Unicap Investment and Finance has approved the board’s recommendation for a dividend of 5% as bonus shares for fiscal year 2016.

Bayan Investment Co and Al Salam dialed up 0.5 fil while Sokouk closed 1.3 fils higher at 47.9 fils. KFIC rose 1 fil to 42 fils and Noor Financial Investment Co gave up 1 fil.

Al Madina trimmed 0.5 fil and Amwal Investment Co was down 2 fils at 45 fils. Al Imitiaz stood pat at 168 fils and Kuwait Insurance Co dipped 10 fis. First Takaful Insurance Co tripped 1.1 fils.

Kuwait Real Estate Co rose 0.6 fil to 58.5 fils and United Real Estate Co was unchanged at 88 fils. National Real Estate Co inched 1 fil higher on back of 2.5 million shares and Mazay Holding took in 1 fil. Remal erased 3.1 fils before closing at 75 fils.

The market has been mixed so far during the week and has added 12 points in last two sessions. It has rallied 145 points from start of the month and is trading 18.32 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, S&P Global Ratings has affirmed “A-/A-2” long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on Gulf Bank. The rating agency also revised its outlook on the bank to “positive” from “stable”.

National Real Estate’s (NREC) ordinary general meeting has approved raising its capital to KD 150 million, by issuing 1.5 billion shares at a nominal value of 100 fils each. The company’s current capital stands at KD 98.97 million.

KAMCO has sold a controlling stake worth 25.3 million pounds in a British property leased to Amazon UK Services Ltd. The deal will results in a drop of 56 million pounds while and the liabilities will see a 56.5 million dip.

Educational Holding Group has posted a 13 pct drop in profits in the quarter ended May 31, 2017. The profits totaled KD 1.14 million as against KD 1.31 million in the same period last year. In the nine-month period ending May 30, the earnings grew 22 pct to KD 4.32m.

Fitch Ratings upgraded GFH Financial Group’s long-term issuer default rating (IDR) from “B-” to “B”, with a “Positive” outlook.

Aqar Real Estate Investment’s second quarter profits surged 27 pct to KD 350,410 mln from same period last year helped by increase of rent revenues. The revenues rose 23.4 percent to KD 687,320 in the first half while operating revenues climbed 21.6 percent to KD 987,070.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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