Kuwait bourse retreats amid ‘soggy’ sentiment

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Zain slips 11 fils, Humansoft Holding soars

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 16: Kuwait stocks slipped into red on Tuesday, erasing last session’s gains. The All Shares Index dropped 20.9 pts in choppy trade to 4994.31 pts as sentiment turned soggy. Most of the blue chips closed lower whereas some of the mid-caps shone.

The Premier Market dipped 33.69 pts to 5171.67 points taking the month’s losses to 172 pts while Main Market ticked 2.3 points higher. The volume turnover meanwhile tapered for the second straight session. Over 66 million shares changed hands – down 7.4 pct from the day before. The sectors closed mostly in red. Oil and gas outshone the rest with 1.17 percent gain whereas telecommunications shed 1.9 pct, the worst performer of the day.

Volume wise, banks accounted for the highest market share of 36.5 percent and real estate trailed with 22.9 pct contribution. In the individual shares, Boubyan Bank dropped 5 fils to 534 fils and National Bank of Kuwait ticked 1 fil down with a volume of 2.8 million shares. KIPCO and Mabanee clipped 2 fils each to close at 205 fils and 611 fils respectively.

Humansoft Holding soared 94 fils to KD 3.090 recouping Tuesday’s slide. Zain slipped 11 fils to 438 fils after trading 6.6 million shares while Ooredoo tripped 1 fil. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) shed 8 fils and logistics major Agility was down 7 fils at 813 fils with a volume of 1.2 million. The market opened firm and fell briefl y in early trade.

The main index flipped direction and scaled the day’s highest level of 5,104 points before drifting lower as selling kicked in. It plumbed the day’s lowest level of 4,986 pts in final minutes and clawed back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, KMEFIC rallied 9.6 pct to 29.8 fils and Burgan Well Drilling Co climbed 9.5 percent to stand next. Tahssilat slid 9.3 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Tijaria topped the volume with over 8 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s drop, the losers outnumbered the winners. 37 stocks advanced whereas 57 closed lower.

Of the 112 counters active on Tuesday, 18 closed flat. 3,772 deals worth KD 19.2 million were transacted – down 5.3 pct in value from the day before. National Industries Group dialed up 2 fils while Mezzan Holding dipped 2 fils to 612 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co was unchanged at KD 1.059 after vacillating earlier in the session and Al Qurain tripped 1 fil. Automated Systems Co paused at 115 fils. Jazeera Airways dropped 10 fils to 730 fils and ALAFCO dialed down 2 fils.

Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co ticked 1 fil higher to 460 fils and ACICO Industries inched 1 fil into red. Mashaer Holding edged 0.2 fil lower to 44.1 fils. Kuwait Cement Co stood pat at 365 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement scaled 4 fils. UPAC soared 48 fils to 658 fils with thin trading and Combined Group Contracting Co was up 9 fils at 359 fils.

Gulf Cable gave up 3 fils to close at 377 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co fell 3.6 fils to 94.1 fils and KGL Logistics trimmed 0.4 fil. Inovest took in 1.8 fils and Al Rai Media Group edged 0.5 fil into green. NAPESCO fell 5 fils to 825 fils and KCPC followed suit to end at 228 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank and Burgan Bank were fl at a 250 fils and 272 fils respectively whereas Kuwait International Bank clipped 1 fil. Warba Bank and Ahli United Bank fell 2 fils each to wind up at 227 fils and 200 fils respectively.

Ticked
Kuwait Finance House ticked 1 fil down to 582 fils with brisk trading. Fitch Ratings has affirmed KGH’s long-term issuer default rating (IDR) at “A+”, with a “stable” outlook. Fitch has also affirmed the lender’s viability rating at (bb+). Commercial Bank recouped last session climbed 5 fils to 510 fils on back of over 5 million shares and Al Ahli Bank trimmed 1 fil with thin trading. Al Mutahed dialed up 2 fils to close at 290 fils. National Investment Co took in 0.5 fil whereas Kuwait Investment Co and International Financial Advisors stalled at 120 fils and 21.5 fils respectively. Facil climbed 6 fils to 176 fils and Coast Investment Co edged 0.6 fil into red. Securities House Co closed 0.6 fil in green.

Kuwait Financial Centre ( Markaz) slipped 2.5 fils to 86.5 fils whereas Arzan and Aayan tripped 0.6 fil each. Alola ticked 0.1 fil higher while Unicap and GIH held ground at 59.5 fils and 14.8 fils respectively. Gulf Insurance Co slipped 5 fils to 620 fils. Noor Financial Investment Co clipped 1.3 fils while Tamdeen Investment and Al Imtiaz were fl at at 280 fils and 127 fils respectively. Ektittab Holding dialed up 0.9 fil and KFIC added 1.4 fils. A Deera Holding closed 1.3 fils in red. Ahliea Insurance Co shed 11 fils.

National Real Estate Co trimmed 0.2 fil whereas Kuwait Real Estate and United Real Estate Co were unchanged at 45.1 fils and 61.9 fils respectively. Saliiya Real Estate took in 1 fil and Mazaya Holding fell 3.2 fils to 73.4 fils. The bourse has been largely downbeat so far during the week, shedding 71 pts in last three sessions and and slid 133 points from start of the month. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.

By John Mathews Arab Times Staff

This news has been read 10693 times!

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