Kuwaiti market extends gains, volume increases
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NBK rallies 6 fils, KIPCO flat
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 16: Kuwait stocks pulled higher on Wednesday extending last session’s modest gains. The All Shares Index climbed 33.83 points to 5,763.79 pts led by some of the blue chips while rest of the board remained mixed. The Premier Market soared 49.66 points to 6,295.79 pts taking the month’s gains to 121 points while Main Market ticked 1.01 pts higher to 4,724.63 points. The volume turnover meanwhile rose for third consecutive day. Over 138 million shares changed hands – a 23 pct surge from the day before. The sectors closed mixed. Consumer Goods outpaced the rest with 2.7 percent gain whereas Consumer Services shed 1.3 pct, the worst performer of the day.
Volume wise, Banking topped the volume with 54.3 million shares and the sector also dominated in value with KD 22.3 million. Among the standout performers, National Bank of Kuwait rallied 6 fils to 952 fils on back of over 3 million shares while Kuwait Finance House sprinted 8 fils to 697 fils with brisk trading of 10.7 million. Mabanee Co was up 4 fils at 755 fils. Zain rallied 11 fils to 565 fils after pushing 3.4 million shares at the counter while Ooredoo ticked 1 fils higher to 714 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) scaled 11 fils taking the month’s gains to 18 fils and Agility was up 7 fils at 754 fils. Humansoft Holding skidded 48 fils extending Tuesday’s losses.
The market opened firm and edged higher in early trade. The main index meandered listlessly thereafter as sentiment turned soggy and revved up in the final minutes to close deep in the green zone Top gainer of the day, GIH rallied 9.98 percent to 46.3 fils and Sanam sprinted 9.4 pct to stand next. Marakex skidded 9.6 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Ahli United Bank topped the volume with 13.29 million shares. Mirroring the day’s gains, the winners outnumbered the losers. 51 stocks advanced whereas 43 closed lower. Of the 114 counters active on Wednesday, 20 closed flat. 5919 deals worth KD 138.5 million were transacted during the session.
National Industries Group ticked 1 fil higher to 228 fils on back of over 3 million shares while Mezzan Holding jumped 18 fils with thin trading. Boubyan Petrochemical Co slipped 6 fils to 753 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co tripped 1 fils. Jazeera Airways dropped 7 fils to 991 fils and ALAFCO gave up 3 fils before settling at 264 fils. IFA Hotels and Resorts added 1.5 fils and Gulf Petroleum Investment trimmed 0.5 fils after trading over 4 million shares. KPPC and Salbookh paused at 50.5 fils and 40.5 fils respectively.
Kuwait Portland Cement was unchanged at KD 1.125 and Kuwait Cement Co too did not budge from its earlier close of 265 fils. Sharjah Cement Co ticked 0.1 fil into green and Gulf Cement edged 0.4 fils up to 59.3 fils. Ras Al Khaimah White Cement Co added 1.5 fils and QIC clipped 1.9 fils. Kuwait Foundry Co slipped 12 fils to 401 fils and ACICO Industries was down 4 fils a 122 fils.
Combined Group Contracting Co and OSOS stood pat at 230 fils and 103 fils respectively whereas Mashaer trimmed 0.5 fil. Gulf Cable rose 4 fils to 458 fils. Kuwait National Cinema Co tumbled 56 fils to 753 fils and Equipment Holding Co eased 0.2 fil. KGL Logistics took in 0.3 fil and SPEC trimmed 0.5 fil. Inovest gave up 2 fils to close at 61 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co clipped 1 fil.
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank rose 3 fils to 283 fils on back of over 10 million shares while Kuwait International Bank took in 1 fils with brisk trading. Burgan Bank fell 2 fils to 306 fils and Boubyan Bank rallied 6 fils after pushing 2.2 million shares.
Al Ahli Bank eased 1 fil to 299 fils and Al Mutahed was unchanged at 318 fils. Warba Bank dialed up 1 fil on back of over 3 million shares and Ahli United Bank followed suit with heavy trading. KIPCO was unchanged at 220 fils and Gulf Finance House ticked 0.5 fil into green. FACIL dialed up 2 fils and International Financial Advisors trimmed 0.7 fil before settling at 54.9 fils. Coast Investment Co took in 0.6 fil and Securities House eased 0.3 fil to 42.2 fils.
Kuwait Financial Centre ( Markaz) fell 3 fils to 91 fils while ALOLA and KFIC held ground at 29 fils and 46.8 fils respectively. National Investment Co tripped 1 fils and KMEFIC added 1.5 fils on back of 2.8 million shares. Madar was up 3 fils at 113 fils. Bayan Investment inched 0.1 fil higher with thin trading and Unicap clipped 1.2 fils.
Noor Financial Investment Co dialed up 2 fils and KSCH closed 2 fils above the rim. Al Imtiaz edged 1 fil up on back of 1.4 million shares and Gulf Insurance shed 8 fils. National Real Estate Co took in 0.4 fil on back of over 1 million shares while Salhiya Real Estate stood pat at 331 fils. Tamdeen Real Estate climbed 12 fils to 292 fils and Mazaya Holding tripped 0.4 fil. The bourse has been largely upbeat so far during the week and has rallied 58 points in last four sessions.
The main index has soared 84 points from start of the month and is trading 683 pts higher year-to-date. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.
By John Mathews Arab Times Staff
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