Kuwait equities extend losses in volatile trade – KIPCO dips 18 fils; Ooredoo jumps

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KUWAIT CITY, Aug 30: Kuwait stocks  slipped further on Wednesday extending its losses to third consecutive session. The bourse fell 7.35 pts in volatile session to 6,892.1 points as investors exited positions ahead of the Eid holidays. The blue chips, led by banking shares, closed mostly in red.

The KSX 15  benchmark  slipped 6.72 points to 984.9 pts and weighted index gave up 1.79 pts to settle at 430.57 points. The volume turnover meanwhile was little changed at 84.7 million shares after  falling sharply in the previous session.

The sectors closed mostly in red. Technology outshone the rest with 1.25 pct gain and insurance shed 1.22 pct, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services clocked the highest market share of 31 pct and real estate followed with 30.71 percent contribution.

In the individual shares,  National Bank of Kuwait erased Tuesday’s gains with 4 fils fall to 741 fils after trading 1.8 million shares and Kuwait Finance House was down 3 fils with a volume of over 3 million. KIPCO dipped 18 fils to 352 fils and has dived 148 fils year-to-date.

Zain  fell 4 fils to 499 fils and after trading over 5 million shares and Ooredoo extended last session’s small gains with a 25 fils jump to KD 1.220. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA)  clipped 2 fils and Agility dropped 9 fils to 741 fils.

Al Ahli Bank  rose 4 fils to 309 fils and Burgan Bank dipped 12 fils. The bank has posted a profit of KD 21.07 million in the second quarter, a 24.6 pct increase from same period last year.

The market opened firm and drifted lower in early trade. The main index sank further in choppy trade as sentiment soured and plumbed the day’s lowest level of 6,854.71 pts past the mid-session. It rebounded  thereafter and pared back most of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, NICBM climbed 112.4 pct to 199 fils and Gulf Investment House rose 3.36 percent to stand next. Amwal Investment Co dipped 5.61 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Imtiaz topped the volume with 12.7 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s downtick, the losers outnumbered the gainers. 43 stocks advanced whereas 56 closed lower. Of the 129 counters active on Wednesday, 30 closed flat. 3171 deals worth KD 16.85 million were transacted – a 4.7 pct rise in value from the day before.

National Industries Group fell 2 fils to 142 fils after trading over 1 million shares and Gulf Cable slipped 4 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co eased 1 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement Co followed suit.

Kuwait Food Co (Americana) ticked 1 fils lower to KD 2.000 and Humansoft Holding bounced 49 fils partly recouping steep losses earlier in the week. Boubyan Petrochemical Co clipped 1 fil and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co was down 3 fils at 351 fils.

Jazeera Airways was flat at  570 fils off early lows and ALAFCO climbed 6 fils to 378 fils. Shuaiba Industrial Co dropped 10 fils to 300 fils and Kuwait National Cinema Co stood pat at KD 1.350.

Trimmed

Kuwait Foundry Co inched in fils into red and Educational Holding Co was up 3 fils at 328 fils. Kuwait Gulf  Links Transport Co trimmed 0.5 fil and KGL Logistics closed 0.8 fil lower.

Combined Group Contracting Co and UPAC  held ground at 548 fils and 715 fils respectively. UPAC’s  second quarter earnings rose 19.3 percent year-on-year to KD 2.29 million. Mezzan Holding gained 11 fils and Alrai Media Group paused at 127 fils.

NAPESCO dipped 9 fils to 841 fils and AWJ Holding added 1.9 fils. Equipment Holding Co dialed up 1 fil before settling at 47.6 fils. OSOS took in 2 fils to close at 118 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank eased 1 fil to 240 fils whereas Al Mutahed and Kuwait International Bank were unchanged at 426 fils and 243 fils respectively.

Boubyan Bank held ground at 452 fils and Warba Bank nudged 1 fil higher to 266 fils. Commercial Bank was not traded during the session.

National Investment Co ticked 1 fils up to 115 fils and Coast Investment Co  closed 0.7 fil in green. International Financial Advisors eased 0.2 fil to 37.4 fils and Securities House Co clipped 1.6 fils.  Al Mal Investment Co trimmed 0.4 fil.

Bayan Investment Co rose 0.8 fil to 48.5 fils and KMEFIC edged 0.5 fils up. KFIC gave up 0.5 fil and  Bayan Investment Co ticked 0.8 fil up to 48.5 fils. Unicap gave up 0.8 fil and Al Deera Holding clipped 1.5 fils.

Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) and Sokouk Holding were flat at 109 fils and 50 fils respectively while  Noor Financial Investment Co gave up 0.9 fil.

Osoul Investment Co dialed up 1 fil and Ektittab Holding added 1.1 fils. Amwal Investment Co slipped 2.3 fils to 38.7 fils and Kuwait Insurance Co shed 5 fils. Gulf Insurance Co dived 51 fils to 899 fils.

Mabanee Co fell 4 fils to 791 fils after trading over 1 million shares  while Salhiya Real Estate and National Real Estate Co eased 1 fil each. United Real Estate Co ticked 1 fils lower and Kuwait Real Estate Co clipped 1.9 fils.

The  market  has been mixed so far during the week and has added 6 points in last four  sessions. It  has  climbed 43 pts  from the start of the month  and is trading 19.90  pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, 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

Gulf Insurance Group’s earnings  dived 27.6 pct year-on-year during the second quarter to KD 2.77 million. During the first six months of 2017, the profits dropped 21.6% to KD 5.59 million .

National International Holding Co recorded a 66.2 percent dip in the second quarter profit to KD 828,500 from same period last year. In the first half of 2017, the profits tumbled 56 percent to KD 1.2 million.

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.

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

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