Kuwait stocks edge lower in lacklustre trade; volume dips – Ooredoo dives 60 fils; Americana flat

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KUWAIT CITY, June 29: Kuwait stocks edged down on Wednesday after modest gains in the previous two sessions. The price index fell 0.43 pts in lackluster trade to close at 5,374.78 pts as the board remained mixed.

The KSX-15 index tumbled 6.09 pts to 811.69 pts. The weighted index shed 1.76 pts to 352.8 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile retreated after trading above the 100 million mark in the last two sessions. 68.38 million shares changed hands, down 44.82 pct from the previous day.

The sectors closed in mixed. Basic materials outshone the rest with 0.99 pct gain for a second day in a row. Technology tumbled 2.48 pct to end the day as the biggest loser. In terms of volume, financial services topped with 47.87 pct market share while consumer services and industrials trailed far behind with 13.02 pct and 9.40 pct contributions respectively.

Surged

The top gainer of the day, Kuwait Cable Vision surged 12.5 pct to stand at 22.5 fils whereas AWJ Holding Co rose 5.63 pct. Zima Holding Co gained 5.43 pct on the back of over 8.5 million shares while Arabi Holding Group Co was up 5 pct and Gulf North Africa Holding Co climbed 4.62 pct to 34 fils. In terms of volume, A’ayan Leasing & Investment Co topped with over 10 million shares.

The market opened with on a subdued note and and moved sideways in early trading. The price index searched for direction before dropping to red at close.

Gulf Franchising Holding Co sank 7.35 pct to close as the top loser whereas The Energy House Holding Co dropped 6.73 pct to 48.5 fils. Arkan Al-kuwait Real Estate Co dived 5.56 pct Al-Arabiya Real Estate Co shed 4.62 pct. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) did not budge from its earlier close of KD 2.460.

National Mobile Telecommuni-cations Co (Ooredoo) dipped 60 fils to settle at KD 1.100 in thin trading. National Mobile Telecommunications Co (Ooredoo) has logged a net profit of KD 10.21 million and earnings per share 20.38 fils in the quarter ending March 2016 soaring from net profit of KD 2.241 million and earnings per share of 4.47 fils in the Q1 of 2015.

Meanwhile, Mobile Telecommuni-cations Co (Zain) was down 5 fils and Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) stood pat at KD 0.930. Hits Telecom Holding Co inched 0.5 fils after trading over 5 million shares.

Reflecting on the day’s downswing, the winners outshone the losers as 39 stocks advanced whereas 35 closed down. Of the 112 counters active on Wedneday, 38 closed flat. 1,923 deals worth KD 6.5 million were transacted, a sharp drop of 44.11 pct from the previous session.

In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait dived 10 fils on the back ofn 1.25 million shares whereas Burgan Bank and Kuwait Finance House dropped 5 fils each to close at KD 0.330 and KD 0.455 respectively. Gulf Bank was down 2 fils while Kuwait International Bank and Warba bank rose by the same amount. Ahli United Bank gained 5 fils to settle at 400 fils. Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait and Boubyan Bank were unchanged.

Salhia Real Estate Co rose 15 fils whereas Tamdeen Real Estate Co gained 20 fils to stand at KD 0.550. Kuwait Cement Co was up 5 fils to 380 fils while Mabanee Co lost 10 fils. Mabanee Company has posted a net profit of over KD 12 million and earnings per share of 13.54 fils as against a net profit of KD 11,94 million and earnings per share of 13.46 fils in the same period last year

Boubyan Petrochemicals Co surged 20 fils to 510 fils while Qurain Petrochemicals Industries Co and National Industries closed flat. Ikarus Petroleum Industries Co inched 1 fils up whereas Agility was unchanged at KD 0.475.

Humansoft Holding resumed trading with a drop of 20 fils while Jazeera Airways slipped 10 fils to settle at 900 fils. Hayat Communications Co shed 2 fils partly erasing its gains in the previous session whereas Future Communications Co lost 4 fils and AWJ Holding was up by the same amount to close at 75 fils.

ACICO Industries Co tumbled 10 fils while Gulf Cable slipped 5 fils. ALAFCO Aviation Lease And Finance dropped 2 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co stood pat at KD 0.700. Burgan Well Drilling Co rose 2 fils whereas Palm Agro Production Co was down by the same amount. Livestock Transport and Trading Co dived 8 fils and Osos Holding Group Co extended its decline with a 4 fils drop to settle at 104 fils.

By Iliasu Abubakari

Arab Times Staff

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