Kuwait bourse retreats into red; volume shrinks – Humansoft Holding tumbles 131 fils; Ooredoo gains

This news has been read 5757 times!

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 28: Kuwait stocks sagged on Monday slightly trimming last session’s gains. The bourse fell 5.37 pts in choppy session to 6908.9 points even as the overall sentiment remained cautious ahead of the Eid holidays.

The KSX 15 benchmark rose 0.78 pts to 988.75 points while weighted index ticked 0.51 pts higher to 430.97 points. The volume turnover meanwhile snapped the two-day rise to hit a 3-week trough. 65.94 million shares changed hands — a 11.4 pct fall from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly higher. Consumer services outpaced the rest with 1.13 pct gain whereas oil and gas shed 1.35 percent, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, financial services notched the highest market share of 46.34 pct and real estate followed with 23.66 percent contribution.

In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait fell 2 fils to 742 fils partly erasing Sunday’s gains and Kuwait Finance House gave up 1 fil after trading 1.9 million shares. Humansoft Holding erased most of last session’s gains with a 131 fils plunge to KD 4.119.

Zain took in 2 fils with a volume of over 3 million and Ooredoo jumped 30 fils to KD 1.190. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) dialed down 1 fil and Agility was up 3 fils at 884 fils.

Almutahed rose 10 fils to 428 fils and Boubyan Bank gained 12 fils. The bank has posted an profit of KD 11.21 mln in the second quarter of 2017, up 14.3 pct year-on-year from same period last year.

The market opened weak and edged lower in early trade. The main index bounced sharply to scale the day’s highest level of 6,924.43 pts and drifted lower in choppy trade. It bottomed at 6,864.29 points past the mid-session and pared back most of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Jiyad rallied 15.74 pct to 47.8 fils and United Real Estate Co climbed 14.23 pct to stand next. Amwal Investment Co slumped 8 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Securities House Co topped the volume with over 7 million shares. Despite the day’s downtick, the market spread was skewed towards the winners. 59 stocks advanced whereas 39 closed lower. Of the 128 counters active on Monday, 30 closed flat. 2816 deals worth KD 11.38 million were transacted — a 15 percent drop in value from the day before.

National Industries Group was unchanged at 146 fils and Kuwait Cement Co too did not budge from its earlier close of 420 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co paused at 216 fils and Gulf Cable climbed 9 fils to 510 fils.

Kuwait Foundry Co and NICBM stood pat at 300 fils and 175 fils respectively whereas Equipment Holding Co trimmed 0.7 fil. Al Qurain Petrochemical Co took in 2 fils and Boubyan Petrochemical gained 22 fils to wind up at 652 fils.

Thin

Kuwait Food Co (Americana) was flat at KD 1.995 with thin trading and Kuwait National Cinema Co vaulted 150 fils extending Sunday’s gains. Educational Holding Group was up 3 fils at 330 fils. OSOS ticked 1 fil higher to 123 fils.

Jazeera Airways dropped 10 fils to 555 fils and ALAFCO dipped 15 fils. The company’s earnings surged 49 pct to KD 5.78 million in third quarter ended June 30 from same period last year.

NAPESCO shed 24 fils and Alrai Media Group took in 1 fil. The company has recorded a 25.2 percent year-on-year drop fall in profits for the second quarter. In the January-June period, the profits dived 44.2% to KWD 1.64 million.

Automated Systems Co climbed 5 fils to 170 fils and Burgan Well Drilling Co clipped 2 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co held ground at 58 fils and KGL Logistics Co ticked 1 fil higher.

Combined Group Contracting Co fell 2 fils to 548 fils and AWJ Holding gave up 2.8 fils. IFA Hotels and Resorts dipped 10 fils to 265 fils and Mezzan Holding climbed 14 fils to 814 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank eased 1 fil to 241 fils and Burgam Bank followed suit. Commercial Bank and Al Ahli Bank were not traded during the day.

Kuwait International Bank dialed up 2 fils and Burgan Bank edged 1 fil down to 371 fils. Warba Bank stood pat at 266 fils after trading over 1 million shares.

National Investment Co and International Financial Advisors were flat at 115 fils and 36.8 fils respectively. Kuwait Investment Co inched 1 fil into red while Bayan Investment Co crept 0.7 fil higher.

Kuwait Financial Co (Markaz) and Arzan Financial Investment Co were unchanged at 109 fils and 36.9 fils respectively whereas KAMCO inched 0.1 fil up to 80 fils. Kuwait Insurance Co gained 15 fils.

Noor Financial Investment ticked 0.1 fil higher to 58.1 fils and Al Imtiaz Investment Co clipped 2 fils. Unicap held ground at 45 fils and Ektittab Holding too did not budge from its earlier close of 36 fils.

Tamdeen Real Estate Co dipped 18 fils to 386 fils and AREEC climbed 18 fils. United Real Estate Co gained 13 fils and Mabanee Co stood pat at 790 fils. Mazaya Holding took in 1 fil to settle at 115 fils.

The market has been mixed so far during the week and has added 23 points in last two sessions. It has rallied 59 points from the start of the month and is trading 20.19 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Aayan Leasing and Investment posted losses of KD 390,000 during the second quarter as against a loss of KD 235,000 in the same period last year. During the first half, the company’s earnings soared 544.2 percent year-on-year to KD 4.67 million.

Kuwait Hotels’ second quarter profits jumped by 72.5 pct to KD 15,370 in as compared to KD 55,820 in the same period a year ago. During the first half of 2017, the earnings slid by 71.5 percent to KD 152,870 from the same period last year.

Kuwait Investment Co profits soared 158.3 percent to KD 2.97 million in the second quarter of 2017 from same period last year. In the January-June period, profits surged 283.6 pct year-on-year to KD 7.71 million.

Kuwait Real Estate Co’s net profits surged 51.2 pct year-on-year in the second quarter of 2017 to KD 1.49 million. In the first half, profits rose 10.5 percent to KD 3.16 million.

Mabanee Company posted a 1.55 pct rise in profits to KD 12.55 million for the second quarter from Q2 of previous year. In the first half, profits ticked 1 pct up to KD 24.61 million from corresponding period of 2016.

Imtiaz Investment Group’s second quarter profits soared by a whopping 1,041 pct to KD 19.97 million from same period in 2016. During the first six months, profits surged 626.3% to KD 32.32 million.

By John Mathews – Arab Times Staff

This news has been read 5757 times!