Kuwait stocks close week on high note; volume slips

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Humansoft surges 120 fils; Zain shines

Kuwait City, June 7: Kuwait stocks end firmly higher on Thursday to close the week in positive territory. The All Share index climbed 19.55 points to close at 4,805.52 points even as some blue chips closed mixed.

The Premier Market index jumped 28.81 points to close at 4,787.32 points while the Main Market edged up 2.81 points. The volume turnover meanwhile pulled lower after rising in the last session. 36.7 million shares changed hands, a drop of 15.72 percent from the previous session.

The sectors mostly closed higher as telecommunications led by Zain, outperformed with 1.21 percent gain for a second straight day while insurance fell 0.61 percent to end as the top loser of the day.

The heaviest-traded sector, banks notched the highest market share of 35.65 percent and financial services trailed far behind with 18.20 percent contribution.

Top gainer of the day was Shuaiba Industrial Co, which jumped 8.26 percent while Asiya Capital Investment Co rose 7.44 percent to stand next. Arabi Holding Group  dropped 5.91 percent to end as the worst performing stock.

The heaviest-traded stock, Zain surged 2.6 percent on the back of 8.8 million shares. VIVA fell 9 fils or 1.29 percent whereas Ooredoo plunged 17 fils or 1.92 percent. AAN Digital Services Co eased 1.46 percent

Movers

Among the notable movers, Boubyan Petrochemical Co jumped 12 fils to KD 0.843, erasing the losses in the previous session and Agility gained 3 fils while Mezzan was up 4 fils. GFH Financial Group and Kuwait Projects Co slumped 2 fils each to 104 fils and 237 fils respectively. National Industries Group and Mabanee closed flat during this session.

Humansoft Holding Co continued its gains to trade 120 fils while Jazeera Airways advanced 9 fils to close at KD 0.769. Qurain Petrochemical jumped 4 fils  and Heavy Engineering and Ship Building Co tumbled 8 fils.

Insurance sector was led down by Gulf Insurance Group and Kuwait Insurance C which dropped 5 fils each to close at KD 0.630 and KD 0.270 respectively. ACICO Industries Co fell 5 fils in thin trade and Combined Group Contracting Co was down 3 fils or 0.71 percent.

Bank shares saw a modest uptick as NBK and AUB rose 4 fils apiece on the back of 2.2 million and 3.4 million shares. Burgan Bank and Gulf Bank extended their gains to 3 fils and 1 fil respectively.

KFH shed 1 fil after trading 3.2 million shares. Warba Bank lost 1 fil while KIB and Boubyan Bank stagnated at KD 0.219 and KD 0.510 respectively. CBK and ABK closed flat.

The market opened on a tame note and edged higher in early trade. The index continued to swing between small gains and losses. The bourse, however, gained momentum in the final moments to close in the positive territory.

Security House Co rose 3.7 percent and Energy House Co gained 5.35 percent. Anwal International Investment Co added 2.91 percent and Boubyan Industries Holding Co surged 5.36 percent to 29.5 fils. National Int’l Holding Co dipped 5.17 percent while ALAFCO Aviation eased 0.57 percent.

Oula Fuel Marketing Co and Soor Fuel Marketing Co lost 3 fils and 2 fils respectively after recent gains. Fujairah Cement Industries dropped 2.67 percent whereas Kuwait Foundry Co eased 1.03 percent.

Al-Mazaya Holding Co inched up 1.58 percent and National Real Estate Co added 0.96 percent. Real Estate Trade Centers Co shot up 4.8 percent and Arkan Al-Kuwait Real Estate Co edged 1.14 percent higher.

Reflecting on the day’s upswing, the market was skewed toward the winners as 40 stocks advanced whereas 37 inched lower.  Of the 96 counters active on Thursday, 19 closed flat. 2,088 deals worth KD 10.8 million were transacted, a 7.92 percent drop in value from the previous session.

Abyaar Real Estate Co advanced 2.20 percent whereas Al Mudon Real Estate Co tumbled 3.45 percent. First Dubai for Real Estate Devt was up 1.48 percent and Al-Arabiy Real Estate Co gained  1.69 percent to close at 41.2 fils and 30 fils respectively.

Alimtiaz Investment Group Co and International Financial Advisors rose 0.79 percent and 1.55 percent respectively. Al-Madar Finance and Investment Co gained 1.19 percent while Ithmaar Holding Co slipped 1.79 percent. Gulf North Africa Holding Co stumbled 2.27 percent to 43 fils and Noor Financial Investment eased 1.16 percent to 51 fils.

The market has been bullish during the week as the index closed higher in all five sessions. It has gained 69.8 points from the start of the month and trading  25.01 percent lower so far this year. Boursa Kuwait is the second largest market in the region with 175 listed stocks.

By Iliasu Abubakari

Arab Times Staff

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