Kuwait winds up week with slight ‘pullback’

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Mabanee jumps 14 fils; KFH trips

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 9: Kuwait stocks saw a slight pullback on Thursday snapping the six-day gaining spree. The All Shares Index slipped 6.29 points in a lackluster trade to 5,280.86 pts even as the heavyweights closed mixed.

The Premier Market dipped 10.41 pts to 5,455.85 points while Main Market was little changed at 4,963.10 points. The volume turnover meanwhile ticked slightly higher. Over 177 million shares changed hands — up 0.68 pct from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in red turf. Oil and gas outshone the rest with 1.3 pct gain whereas insurance dipped 1.38 percent, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise, financial services mustered the highest market share of 58.2 pct and real estate trailed far behind with 19.5 percent contribution. In the individual shares, Mabanee Co continued to shine with a 14 fils jump to 710 fils whereas Commercial Bank shed 10 fils before settling at 515 fils. NAPESCO climbed 28 fils to 848 fils and Humansoft Holding rallied 16 fils to KD 3.456.

Zain eased 1 fil to 499 fils after trading 1.7 million shares while Ooredoo extended last session’s gains with 9 fils jump to 809 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) added 3 fils and Agility slid 13 fils to 891 fils with a volume of 2.9 million. Kuwait Finance House tripped 1 fil and National Bank of Kuwait took in 1 fil NBK has reported a 16.4 pct increase in profits to KD 92.26 million during the second quarter.

Scaled The market opened firm and ticked briefl y up in early trade. The main index scaled the day’s highest level of 5,285 points and retreated thereafter as trading floor mood soured. It plumbed the day’s lowest level of 5,267 pts ahead of the mid-session and drifted sideways in the second half before closing with slight losses.

Top gainer of the day, Sanam Real Estate soared 20.6 pct to 53.7 fils and Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) climbed 10 percent to stand next. UPAC sank 9 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Aayan topped the volume with over 58 million shares.

Despite the day’s downtick, the winners outnumbered the losers. 61 stocks advanced whereas 49 closed lower. Of the 132 counters active on Thursday, 22 closed fl at. 6,362 deals worth KD 20.53 million were transacted — down 18.77 percent in value from the day before.

National Industries Group fell 2 fils to 171 fils with brisk trading while Mezzan Holding trimmed 1 fil. Boubyan Petrochemical Co was unchanged at KD 1.025 and Al Qurain Petrochemical too did not budge from its earlier close of 349 fils.

Jazeera Airways eased 1 fil to 749 fils and ALAFCO climbed 5 fils to 365 fils. Gulf Cable and Kuwait National Cinema Co were unchanged at 394 fils and KD 1.050 respectively. Equipment Holding Co added 2.1 fils and Educational Holding Co climbed 10 fils to 325 fils.

Kuwait Foundry Co dropped 4 fils to 199 fils and Burgan Well Drilling Co ticked 1 fil up to 88 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co shed 20 fils and OSOS inched 0.1 fil higher to 99 fils. KPPC dialed up 0.7 fil and KCPC added 1 fil to close at 242 fils. Kuwait Portland Cement climbed 6 fils to KD 1.103 while Combined Group Contracting Co and EK Holding took in 1 fil each. Inovest tripped 0.6 fil and Al Rai Media Group edged 0.6 fil higher to 97 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank fell 2 fils to 258 fils after trading 1.9 million shares while Kuwait International Bank and Warba Bank clipped 1 fil each. Burgan Bank stood pat at 284 fils and Ahli United Bank gave up 3 fils.

Boubyan Bank ticked 1 fil higher to 520 fils and Al Ahli Bank paused at 314 fils after falling sharply in the previous session. AlMutahed too did not budge from its earlier close of 363 fils.

KIPCO was fl at at 231 fils and Gulf Finance House inched 1 fil higher to 108 fils. National Investment Co and KFIC dialed up 0.9 fil each and Securities House closed 0.8 fil in green. Al Mal Investment trimmed 0.1 fil before closing at 17.8 fils.

KAMCO climbed 5 fils to 75 fils with razor thin trading and International Financial Advisors added 0.2 fil. Coast Investment Co and Al Madina took in 0.6 fil each whereas Kuwait Investment was down 3 fils at 127 fils.

Bayan Investment fell 0.2 fil to 49.4 fils while Unicap and Al Imtiaz held ground at 60 fils and 132 fils respectively. KMEFIC edged 0.7 fil up to 20.9 fils and Sokouk Holding ticked 0.5 fil into green. Al Deera Holding clipped 0.7 fil to end at 17.6 fils.

Kuwait Financial Centre ( Markaz) gained 10 fils and Noor Financial Centre tripped 0.4 fil to wind up at 56.2 fils. Gulf Insurance Co skidded 24 fils to 620 fils and Ahleia Insurance Co gave up 2 fils. Warba Insurance Co added 2.6 fils.

Kuwait Real Estate Co rose 0.7 fil to 50.7 fils and United Real Estate inched 0.1 fil into green. National Real Estate was unchanged at 117 fils and Salhiya Real Estate dialed up 2 fils. Mazaya Holding ticked 1 fil up to 89 fils.

The market was upbeat during the week. The main index closed higher in four of the five sessions scaling 75 points week-on-week and has rallied 113 points from start of the month. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.

By John Mathews Arab Times Staff

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