Kuwait retreats 28.45 pts to close at 5,409.17 pts – Americana surges 100 fils; NBK sheds 20 fils

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KUWAIT CITY, June 20: Kuwait stocks retreated sharply on Wednesday as profit taking continued after a slight rebound in the previous day. The price index dropped 28.45 pts to close at 5,409.17 pts in a choppy trading.

The weighted index slipped by 2.15 pts whereas the KSX-15 benchmark fell 5.77 pts to 815.07 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile plunged 34.04 pct for a second straight day with 53.06 million shares changing hands.

The sectors closed mostly in the negative turf. Consumer goods outperformed the rest with 1.34 pct gain followed closely by the parallel market with 1.21 pct gain. Technology shed 2.51 pct to end the day as the worst performer. In terms of volume, financial services topped with 46.79 pct market share while real estate and banks trailed far behind with 18.19 pct and 14.34 pct contributions respectively.

Soared

Top gainer of the day, Ajwan Gulf Real Estate Co surged 9.62 pct to 29 fils, Kuwait Food Co (Americana) soared 100 fils to KD 2.5 after trading 1.39 million shares. Kuwait Cable Vision climbed 8.7 pct to 25 fils. Egypt Kuwait Holding Co plummeted 8.33 pct to 110 fils, the worst performer of the day. Coast Investment & Development Co topped the volume with 6.01 million shares.

Among the notable losers, Humansoft Holding Co plummeted 80 fils to KD 1.420. Automated Systems Co slipped 25 fils to KD 0.365 and Kuwait Projects Co (KIPCO) was down 20 fils erasing the gains on Tuesday with a volume of 1.45 million.

The market opened firm and ticked up in early trading, the price index hit the day’s high level of 5,440.44 points and dropped thereafter into negative territory. It searched for direction and moved sideways well past the mid-session dipping deeper into the red zone at close.

Commercial Facilities Co eased 6 fils and Bayan Investment Co was up 1 fils. Noor Financial Investment shed 1.5 fils at 40 fils. Warba Insurance gained 2 fils to close at 104 fils whereas United Real Estate Co edged up 1 fils. Manabee stood pat at KD 0.770.

Al Mazaya was flat to 120 fils. ALARGAN inched up 2 fils at 150 fils while National Industries Group sank 2 fils to close at 116 fils.

In the banking sector, NBK shed 20 fils to close at KD .600 on the back of 2.44 million shares and Ahli United Bank rose by 5 fils to 405 fils. Gulf Bank shed 2 fils to 232 fils whereas Commercial Bank and Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait were flat at KD .410 and KD .340 respectively.

Boubyan was unchanged and Ithmaar Bank followed suit. Warba Bank dropped 2 fils to 170 fils. Burgan Bank and Kuwait Financial House plunged 5 fils each. Burgan Bank has registered a net profit of KD 14.28 million and earnings per share  of 4.4 fils in the first quarter of 2016 as compared to net profit of  KD 17,53 million and earnings per share of 6.0 fils in Q1 of 2015

Reflecting the day’s downturn, 100 companies traded on Wednesday with the market skewed towards the losers. Of these, 20 stocks gained whereas 44 closed lower and 36 closed flat. 1,421 deals worth KD 10.5 million were transacted, down 25.68 pct from the previous day.

In the telecommunication sector, Zain slipped 5 fils to 340 fils after trading 1.18 million shares whereas Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) was unchanged at KD 1.160 and Kuwait Telecommunication Co (VIVA) followed suit at KD 0.940

Mezzan Holding Co surged 20 fils to KD 1.12. Mezzan has reported a net profit of  KD 5.19 million and earnings per share of 16.68 fils in the quarter ending March 31, 2016 as against net profit of  KD 5.45 million and earnings per share of 17.52 fils in the same period last year.

Jazeera Airways shed 10 fils to close at 900 fils. GFH Financial Group stood pat at 69 fils whereas Gulf Petroleum Investment slipped 1 fil to 42 fils and Oula Fuel gained 2 fils to close at 112 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co tripped 10 fils to 500 fils and Qurain Petrochemical Co edged down 4 fils.

Gulf Cable and Electrical Co rose 5 fils to 415 fils and Advanced Technology Co was unchanged at 920 fils. Advanced Technology Company  has registered a net profit of KD 1.53 million and earnings per share of 10.25 fils in the three-month period ending March 31, 2016 as against a net profit of  KD 1.15 million and earnings per share of 7.69 fils in the same period last year.

In a bourse related news, KSE on Wednesday suspended Agility’s trading pending clarification on its acquisition deal with Kharafi National.

By Iliasu Abubakari

Arab Times Staff

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