Kuwait index winds up in red; volume shrinks – Jazeera Airways drops 25 fils; Ooredoo gains

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KUWAIT CITY, May 23: Kuwait stocks swung into red on Tuesday snapping the two-day gains. The bourse, after a tame start, shed 29.67 pts to close at 6,744.67 points amid profit taking. The trading meanwhile turned anemic as the Ramadan draws close.

The KSX 15 benchmark rose 3.06 pts to 918.97 pts taking the year’s gains to 33 points while weighted index edged 1.76 pts higher. The volume turnover meanwhile shrank again to plumb the month’s second lowest level. Over 46 million shares changed hands — a 33.4 pct drop from Monday.

The sectors closed mostly in the red zone. Industrials outshone the rest with 0.96 pct gain whereas technology plunged 5.62 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services accounted for the highest market share of 38.7 pct and real estate trailed with 28.58 pct contribution.

In the individual shares, Gulf Bank fell 2 fils to close at 243 fils after ticking slightly up in the last session while KIPCO inched 1 fils into red. Jazeera Airways dropped 25 fils to 460 fils and has retreated 90 fils so far during the session.

Telecom sector heavyweight Zain took in 2 fils and Ooredoo climbed 20 fils to KD 1.220 and is down 40 fils during the month. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) eased 1 fils to 848 fils.

Kuwait Finance House rallied 4 fils on back of over 3 million shares and Ahli United Bank gained 5 fils. The bank’s first quarter profit rose 2.6% to KD 16.003 million as against KD 15.59 million in for Q1 of 2016.

The market opened on a tame note and remained flattish till half way into the session as investors toed caution. The main index fell sharply thereafter amid selling in select counters and plumbed the day’s lowest level of 6,728.41 points and bounced back. It peaked at 6,782.6 pts in the final minutes before slipping back into red at close.

Top gainer of the day, NCCI spiked 18.89 pct to 107 fils and Kuwait Cement Co soared 12.22 pct to stand next. Massaleh slid 18.7 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Salah topped the volume with 3.5 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s drop, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 34 stocks advanced whereas 52 closed lower. Of the 103 counters active on Tuesday, 17 closed flat. 2,049 deals worth KD 6.3 million were transacted —  a 35.5 pct dip in value from the day before.

National Industries Group, the flagship company of the Kharafi Group, clipped 1 fils and Gulf Cable gave up 2 fils before closing at 430 fils. Contracting and Marine Services Co inched 1 fils up and Boubyan Petrochemical Co gained 4 fils.

Kuwait Cement Co tumbled 49 fils to 450 fils and Equipment Holding Co closed 1 fils down at 52.2 fils. Al Qurain Petrochemical Co climbed 7 fils to 340 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co extended Monday’s gains with a 13 fils jump to 598 fils.

Tumbled

NAPESCO tumbled 40 fils and Al Rai Media Group was not traded during the session. The company has posted 66.7% drop in profits in the first quarter of 2017 to KD 449,760.

Automated Systems Co dipped 15 fils to 200 fils extending last session’s losses while AWJ Holding gave up 3.4 fils. Jeeran Holding clipped 0.4 fils and OSOS slipped 7 fils to 131 fils .

Mezzan Holding was flat at 990 fils and Alafco climbed 11 fils. The company has posted a 83.3% surge in profits to KD 5.59 million for the quarter ending 31 March 2017 from year before period .

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co added 3.5 fils to wind up at 68 fils while KGL Logistics Co slipped 3.3 points to 51.2 pts. Zimah Holding eased 1.4 fils to 53 fils and Inovest was down 3 fils at 53 fils.

In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait was unchanged at 685 fils off slight early lows and Commercial Bank took in 1 fils to end at 354 fils.

Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the session.

Burgan Bank edged 1 fils higher to 329 fils and Kuwait International Bank stood pat at 246 fils. Boubyan Bank rose 1 fils to 405 fils and Warba Bank climbed 4 fils to 250 fils.

Kuwait Investment Co and International Financial Advisors were flat at 93 fils and 41.1 fils respectively whereas National Investment Co closed 1 fils higher at 107 fils. Coast Investment Co and Aayan Investment fell 0.6 fils each to close at 42 fils and 44.7 fils respectively.

Bayan Investment Co ticked 0.1 fils up to 62 fils and KFIC added 1.5 fils to close at 43.5 fils. Noor Financial Investment Co gave up 2.2 fils and Sokouk Holding fell 0.9 fils into 50 fils.

Noor Financial Investment Co dialed down 2.2 fils and Tamdeen Investment Co held ground at 310 fils. Wethaq Takaful dropped 7 fils to 45 fils.

Mabanee Co rallied 20 fils to 810 fils and Salhiya Real Estate Co was down 5 fils at 385 fils. Kuwait Real Estate Co eased 0.6 fils to 58.1 fils and Tamdeen Real Estate Co paused at 310 fils. Mazaya Holding rose 3 fils to 114 fils.

The market has been mixed so far during the week and has gained 20 points in last three sessions. It has shed 98 points from start of the month and is trading 17.34 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 208 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Ooredoo Kuwait has posted 26.6 pct jump in profits during the first quarter of 2017 to KD 12.93 million from KD 10.21 million in same period last year. It had recorded a growth of 75% in profits to KD 46.67 million during 2016.

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.

National Petroleum Services (Napesco) first quarter profit surged 62.7% year-on-year to KD 2.31 million as to compared to KD 1.42 million in same period last year. It company had earned KD 7.71 million in 2016, up 35.6% from 2015.

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.

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.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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