Kuwait dips as weak oil roils trading floor – Americana slides 80 fils; Gulf Bank flat

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KUWAIT CITY, May 7: Kuwait stocks tanked on Sunday as weakening oil prices roiled the market sentiment. The price index, after a tame start, plunged 188.13 pts in a broad decline to 6564.66 points led by heavyweights.

The KSX 15 gauge dived 22.7 pts to 883.68 points taking the month’s decline to 36 pts while weighted index dipped 9.8 pts to 392.56 points. The volume turnover meanwhile rose for the second session. 162.6 million shares changed hands – a 10.8 pct rise from the previous session.

All sectors barring one closed in red. Parallel market, the only gainer, rose 1.12 pct whereas oil and gas dived 5.3 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, real estate accounted for the highest market share of 29.6 pct while financial services followed with 27.8 percent contribution.

Among the notable losers, Kuwait Food Co (Americana) tumbled 80 fils to KD 2.420 while NAPESCO slumped 100 fils to KD 1.380. Banking sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait dropped 20 fils and KIPCO followed suit to close at 370 fils.

Zain slipped 10 fils to 415 fils after trading over 4 million shares and Ooredoo slid 60 fils with thin volume. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) shed 20 fils after eking modest gains in the last session and Agility followed suit to end at 600 fils.

Kuwait Finance House dipped 15 fils to 480 fils and Burgan Bank gave up 5 fils. The bank has registered a 24.6% year-on-year increase in its profits to KD 17.81 for the first quarter of 2017. The net operating profit however saw a drop of 3.4 pct to KD 29.16 million.

The market opened on a tame note and moved sideways in early trade. The main index remained flattish in the first half before heading sharply lower past the mid-session as heavy selling kicked in. It bottomed at 6547.03 points in the final minutes before clawing back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, KCPC spiked 6.94 pct to 154 fils and Automated Systems Co climbed 6.85 pct to stand next. PAPCO tanked 20 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Ithmaar Bank topped the volume with over 17 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s plunge, the market spread was heavily skewed towards the losers. 13 stocks advanced whereas 122 closed lower. Of the 146 counters active on Sunday, 11 closed flat. 4466 deals worth KD 20.9 million were transacted – a 11.19 pct rise in value from the day before.

National Industries Group slipped 6 fils to 112 fils while Gulf Cable was down 10 fil at 420 fils. Heavy Industries and Shipbuilding Co fell 6 fils while Contracting and Marine Services Co inched 1 fil into red.

Jazeera Airways dropped 10 fils to 500 fils erasing Thursday’s gains and ALAFCO stood pat at 255 fils. Kuwait Portland Cement Co shed 20 fils and Kuwait Cement Co was down 25 fils at 475 fils. Independent Petroleum Group slipped 10 fils to 385 fils.

Kuwait Foundry Co tripped 25 fils to settle at 280 fils and Shuaiba Paper Industries Co followed suit to end at 285 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co slipped 10 fils each while Educational Holding Group shed 20 fils.

Humansoft Holding Co dropped 20 fils whereas UPAC and Combined Group Contracting Co gained 10 fils each. Mezzan Holding and Future Kid gave up 10 fils each whereas Burgan Well Drilling Co closed flat at 88 fils.

PAPCO fell 10 fils and Eyas dipped 25 fils to 395 fils. Mezzan Holding tripped 10 fils and Zimah Holding gave up 3 fils to wind up at 52 fils. Alkout rose 10 fils to 690 fils.

Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co fell 5 fils to 57 fils and KGL Logistics Co followed suit to end at 61 fils. AWJ Holding closed 3 fils in red. Al Rai Media Group dropped 10 fils and Acico Industries closed flat.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank seesawed before closing unchanged at 244 fils and Al Ahli Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of 310 fils.

Commercial Bank dipped 20 fils to to 242 fils 365 fils while Kuwait International Bank and Warba Bank fell 4 fils each. Ahli United Bank slipped 5 fils to 415 fils and Boubyan Bank followed suit.

Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) and Kuwait Investment Co fell 5 fils each while National Investment Co slipped 4 fils. International Financial Services and Securities House Co clipped 2.5 fils each whereas Securities Group Co closed flat.

KAMCO dropped 4 fils to 90 fils while Aayan and Bayan Investment Co gave up 2.5 fils each to close at 46 fils and 47.5 fils respectively. KFIC gave up 2.5 fils and KMEFIC stood pat at 28.5 fils. Osoul tripped 5 fils.

Noor Financial Investment Co paused at 50 fils whereas Tamdeen Investment Co and Al Imtiaz dipped 10 fils each. Sokouk fell 2.5 fils to 45 fils and Ektittab Holding followed suit. Kuwait Insurance Co bucked the broader trend to gain 10 fils.

Mabanee Co and Mazaya Holding shed 10 fils each whereas United Real Estate Co closed flat at 89 fils. Kuwait Real Estate Co clipped 2 fils and National Real Estate Co followed suit.

The market was largely bearish during last week. The main index closed lower in four of the five sessions and slid 102 points week-on-week. It had slumped 279 points so far during the month and is trading 14.2 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 208 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Injazzat Real Estate Development has recorded a 71.5% surge in the first quarter of 2017 to KD 2.35 million from KD 1.37 million in Q1 of 2016, The earnings were boosted by the sale of one of the company’s assets at a profit of KD 1.97 million. In 2016 the profit was up 2.9% at KD 3.2 mln.

Alafco has posted a 83.3% surge in profits to KD 5.59 million for the quarter ending 31 March 2017 from year before period . The sharp rise is attributed to the acquisition of 14 new planes.

Kuwait National Cinema Co has registered a 26.17 pct jump in profits to KD 3.23 million during the first quarter of 2017 from same period in 2016. The net operating profit surged 61.3% to KD 1.3 million.

Aayan Real Estate has recorded a 164.7 percent jump in its profits to KD 536,890 for the first quarter of 2017 from same period in the year before. During 2016, the profit saw a 1.5% uptick to KD 2.75 million in 2016 from the previous year.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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