Kuwait bourse edges lower; volume tapers – Ooredoo jumps 20 fils; Burgan Bank slips

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KUWAIT CITY, Aug 24: Kuwait stocks pulled back on Wednesday after edging higher in the last session. The bourse dropped 13.33 pts in lackluster trade to 5,435.53 pts as selling kicked in at select counters. The banks and other heavyweights were mostly subdued even as investors look for fresh cues.

The KSX 15 gauge slipped 4.85 pts to 811.03 points taking the year’s losses to 73 points while weighted index edged 1.34 pts lower. The volume turnover meanwhile receded slightly after Tuesday’s rebound. 54.68 million shares changed hands — down 2.17 pct from the day before.

The sector closed mostly in red. Oil and gas outshone the rest with 1.73 percent gain whereas consumer goods dipped over 1 pct, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services accounted for the highest market share of 53.4 percent while real estate trailed far behind with 17 pct contribution.

Among the day’s movers, National Bank of Kuwait slipped 10 fils to KD 590 and down 210 fils year-to-date while Burgan Bank was down 5 fils at KD 0.325. Mabanee Co gave up 5 fils to end at KD 0.790 whereas NAPESCO jumped 40 fils.

Telecom service provider Zain eased 5 fils to KD 0.330 after trading over 4 million shares and Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) climbed 20 fils to KD 1.020 recouping the losses in the last session. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) stood pat KD 0.920 and Agility slipped 10 fils to 470 fils.

ALAFCO was unchanged at 214 fils and Jazeera Airways followed suit. The airline has clocked a net profit of KD 5.99 million and earnings per share of 29.96 fils in the first half of 2016.

The market opened flat and edged lower in early trade. The price index moved sideways below the opening mark as sentiment turned weak and plumbed the day’s lowest level of 5,427.85 pts in the final minutes. However it pared some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day NAPESCO climbed 5.8 pct to KD 0.730 and Noor Financial Services Co stood next with 3.7 pct rise. Al Mal Investment Co slid 6.5 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and the counter also topped the volume with 9.6 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s fall, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 22 stocks advanced whereas 43 closed lower. Of the 113 counters active on Wednesday, 48 closed flat. 1,439 deals worth over KD 6 million were transacted — a 0.78 pct dip in value from the day before.

National Industries Group, the flagship company of Kharafi Group, dialed down 2 fils and Gulf Cable inched 1 fil lower to 385 fils. Kuwait Foundry Co paused at 164 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement was up 10 fils at KD 0.980.

ACICO Industries Co was flat at KD 0.290 and NICBM dropped 10 fils. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) held the ground at KD 2.460 and Humansoft Holding Co too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 1.500.

Kuwait National Cinema Co gained 20 fils and Nafais Holding Co was down 10 fils at 180 fils. KNCC has posted a net profit of KD 4.93 million and earnings per share of 52.35 fils in the first six-months of 2016.

Added

UPAC slid 30 fils and IFA Hotels and Resorts gave up 10 fils. Safwan Trading and Contracting Co added 5 fils and AWJ Holding dialed down 3 fils.

Mezzan Holding was unchanged at KD 1.060 and Zima Holding Co eased 0.5 fil. The company has posted a net profit of KD 33,489 and earnings per share of 0.33 fils in the first half of 2016 as against a net loss of KD 118,457 and losses per share of 1.18 fils in the same period last year.

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co inched 0.5 fil up and KGL Logistics stagnated at 70 fils. The company has posted a net profit of KD 3.76 million and earnings per share of 6.36 fils in the first half of 2016 up from net profit of KD 3.49 million and earnings per share of 5.82 fils in the same period last year.

In the banking sector, Kuwait Finance House was flat at KD 0.465 and Gulf Bank took in 2 fils recouping an identical fall in the last session. Ahli United Bank gained 10 fils whereas Commercial Bank and Al Ahli Bank were not traded during the session.

Kuwait Investment Bank paused at 192 fils and Boubyan Bank followed suit. Warba Bank fell 2 fils to 168 fils.

Kuwait Investment Co stood pat at 86 fils and International Financial Advisers followed suit after trading 1.5 million shares. National Investment Co and KIPCO were unchanged at 104 fils and 47 fils respectively while KFIC inched 0.5 fil into red.

Securities House Co and Securities Group were flat at 47 fils and 85 fils respectively whereas Noor Financial Investment Co dialed up 1.5 fils on back of 1.5 million shares. Bayan Investment Co and Al Deera Holding stagnated at 33 fils and 36 fils respectively.

Kuwait Real Estate Co paused at 52 fils and United Real Estate Co followed suit. Salhia Real Estate Co climbed 10 fils and National Real Estate Co stood ground 78 fils.

 The market has been largely downbeat so far during the week and has dipped 36 pts in last four sessions. It has retreated 15 points from start of the month and is down 3.2 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 190 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Metal and Recycling Co clocked a net profit of KD 118,386 and earnings per share of 1.58 fils in the six-month period ending June 31, 2016 rebounding from net loss of KD 185,711 and losses per share of 2.48 fils in same period last year.

National Petroleum Services Co has logged a net profit of KD 3.75 million and earnings per share of 67.49 fils in the first half of 2016 as against a net profit of KD 3.46 million and earnings per share 61.93 fils in same period last year.

Gulf Glass Manufacturing Company has registered a net profit of KD 941,711 and earnings per share of 18.35 fils in the six-month period ending June 30 as against a net profit of KD 1.39 million and earnings per share of 27.09 fils in the same period last year.

Asiya Capital Investments Company has clocked a net loss of KD 5.46 million and loss per share of 7.03 fils in the January-June period sliding from a net profit of KD 1.77 million and earnings per share of 2.29 fils in the same period last year.

Salhia Real Estate Company won the approval of Capital Markets Authority to buy back or sell a maximum of 10 percent of its shares for 6 months from date of the approval.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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