Kuwait price index ends down in volatile session – Humansoft Holding tumbles 245 fils; Zain gains

This news has been read 6888 times!

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 24: Kuwait stock swung lower on Thursday as it wound up the week on a dour note. The price index dipped 37.31 points in volatile trade to 6,885.17 points as selling weighed on select counters. The heavyweights however showed mixed trend.

The KSX 15 benchmark rose 1.96 pts to 980.56 points while weighted index was up 0.56 pts at 429.54 points. The volume turnover meanwhile witnessed a marginal rise following 2-day drop. Over 70 million shares changed hands — up 1.44 pct from the previous session.

The sectors closed mixed. Basic materials outshone the rest with 2.43 pct jump whereas basic materials shed 0.54 pct, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise, financial services accounted for the highest market share of 40.5 pct and real estate trailed with 20.8 percent contribution.

Among the notable losers, National Bank of Kuwait fell 5 fils to 740 fils partly reversing the week’s advance while KIPCO clipped 2 fils. Kuwait National Cinema Co tumbled 279 fils while Humansoft Holding extended Wednesday’s losses with a 245 fils slide to KD 4.055.

Zain rose 5 fils to 502 fils on back of 5.8 million shares and Ooredoo climbed 15 fils with thin volume. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) stood pat at 803 fils and Agility was up 8 fils at 873 fils.

Kuwait Finance House vacillated narrowly before closing flat at 585 fils with a volume of 1.2 million shares and Warba Bank eased 1 fil. The bank’s second quarter profit soared 860.6% year-on-year to KD 1.22 million.

The market opened flat and edged higher in early trade. The main index scaled the day’s highest level of 6,922.78 pts and headed south. It sank further amid sour sentiment and bottomed at 6,875.35 pts past the mid-session. It clawed back thereafter near the opening mark before tumbling again in final minutes to close in red.

Top gainer of the day, Shuaiba Industrial Co soared 10.7 pct to 310 fils and Safat Global climbed 10.4 percent stand close behind. Kuwait National Cinema Co tanked 19.9 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Imtiaz Investment Co topped the volume with 9.9 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s downswing, the losers outnumbered the winners. 50 stocks advanced whereas 54 closed lower. Of the 127 counters active on Thursday, 23 closed flat. 3169 deals worth KD 13.5 million were transacted — down 4.4 pct in value from the day before

National Industries Group and Kuwait Cement Co were unchanged at 147 fils and 420 fils respectively whereas Gulf Cable gave up 4 fils to end at 510 fils. Equipment Holding Co eased 0.2 fils to 47.8 fils.

Kuwait Foundry Co inched 1 fil up to 310 fils and ACICO Industries dialed down 2 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co jumped 29 fils on back of over 1.9 million shares and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co gained 12 fils.

ALAFCO paused at 382 fils and Jazeera Airways rallied 20 fils. The company has posted a 18.1 pct year-on-year increase in profits to KD 2.3 million during the April-June period.

Flat

Educational Holding Co slipped 4 fils and NICBM was down 7 fils at 178 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co inched 1 fil lower and Kuwait Cable Vision Co closed flat at 35 fils. KPPC trimmed 0.7 fil.

Mezzan Holding and Combined Group Contracting Co stood pat at 790 fils and 550 fils respectively whereas Eyas For Higher and Technical Education slipped 5 fils. Al Rai Media Group clipped 2 fils.

Burgan Well Drilling Co took in 1 fil and AWJ Holding gave up 4 fils to settle at 82 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co fell 2.9 fils to 57 fils and KGL Logistics ticked 0.2 fil into green.

In the banking sector, Commercial Bank added 2 fils extending last session’s uptick and Gulf Bank held ground at 241 fils. Al Ahli Bank and AlMutahed were not traded during the session.

Burgan Bank eased 1 fil to 372 fils and Kuwait International Bank fell 3 fils to 243 fils. Boubyan Bank dialed up 1 fil to close at 432 fils.

National Investment Co and Osoul Investment took in 1 fil each while International Financial Advisors trimmed 0.6 fil. Coast Investment and Securities House Co inched 0.1 fil higher each and Kuwait Investment Co added 1 fil to settle at 108 fils.

KAMCO slipped 4.8 fils to 75.1 fils whereas Al Deera Holding and Sokouk Holding clipped 0.3 fil each. KFIC rose 1.5 fils to 46.5 fils while Al Mal Investment and Amwal Investment close flat. At 15.4 fils and 44.5 fils respectively.

UNICAP dialed up 2.3 fils and Bayan Investment Co trimmed 0.3 fil to end at 48.2 fils. KMEFIC fell 0.6 fil and Noor Financial InvestmentCo ticked 0.1 fil into red. Kuwait Insurance Co closed flat and Ahleia Insurance Co fell 3 fils.

National Real Estate Co and United Real Estate Co were unchanged at 121 fils and 91 fils respectively whereas Kuwait Real Estate Co gave up 0.9 fil.

Tamdeen Real Estate Co added 4 fils and Mabanee Co inched 1 fil up. Salhiya Real Estate Co slipped 4 fils to 361 fils.

The market has been mixed during the week. The main index closed higher in three of the five sessions and is unchanged week-on-week. It has climbed 34 points from the start of the month and is trading 19.78 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 6888 times!

Related Articles

Back to top button

Advt Blocker Detected

Kindly disable the Ad blocker

Verified by MonsterInsights