Kuwait bourse edges up in choppy session
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Agility gains 5 fils; NBK flat
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 3: Kuwait stocks pulled slightly higher on Wednesday, stemming the three-day retreat.
The All Shares Index rose 5.22 pts in choppy session to 5,121.23 points paced by Humansoft Holding and some of the heavyweights even as the overall mood remained sluggish.
The Prime Market climbed 5.39 pts to 5,328.93 points trimming the month’s losses to 15 pts while Main Market was up 4.9 pts at 4,743.8 points. The volume turnover meanwhile ebbed for the fourth straight session. Over 64 million shares changed hands – down 6.3 pct from the day before.
The sectors closed mixed. Industrials outpaced the rest with 0.32 pct gain whereas consumer goods shed 0.73 percent, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, financial services mustered the highest market share of 33 pct and banks followed with 30 pct contribution.
Among the notable movers, Humansoft Holding climbed 20 fils to KD 3.319 while NAPESCO and Kuwait National Cinema Co added 5 fils each to close at 825 fils and 999 fils respectively. Kuwait Finance House dialed up 2 fils on back of 1.3 million shares to close at 597 fils. Zain ticked 1 fil up to 475 fils and Ooredoo clipped 1fil. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) climbed 4 fils to 721 fils and logistics major Agility was up 5 fils at 841fils. The market opened on a tame note and moved sideways in early trade.
The main index edged up and fl ipped direction before drifting listlessly in a narrow range. It bottomed at 5,113 points in the final minutes and clawed back sharply to close with small gains.
Top gainer of the day, KFIC rallied 9.9 pct to 47.6 fils and MENA Holding climbed 7 fils to stand next. GIH slumped 11.7 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Ahli United Bank topped the volume with 13.7 million shares. Despite the day’s uptick, the market was evenly spread. 41 stocks advanced and an identical number of shares closed lower.
Of the 109 counters active on Wednesday, 27 closed fl at. 3,338 deals worth KD 9.6 million were transacted – a 21 pct dip in value from the day before. National Industries Group was unchanged at 158 fils and Mezzan Holding as down 6 fils at 664 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co clipped 2 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co dialed up 2 fils to wind up at 341 fils. Equipment Holding Co ticked 0.3 fil higher to 27.3 fils.
KPPC fell 2.9 fils to 53.1 fils and KCPC was down 8 fils at 236 fils. Ithmaar Holding held ground at 30.4 fils. Jazeera Airways and Mashaer Holding were fl at at 749 fils and 44.4 fils respectively whereas NICBM climbed 6 fils to 1.78 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co partly recouped last session’s losses with 4 fils gain. Gulf Cable stood pat at 387 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co dialed down 2 fils.
The company’s second quarter profits surged 54.9 pct to KD 830,000 while during the first six months earnings soared 153.3 pct to KD 2.66 mln. Kuwait Portland Cement dropped 19 fils to KD 1.041 and Inovest inched 1 fil into red. Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co trimmed 1.6 fils and KGL Logistics inched 0.1 fil higher to 44 fils. In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait and Kuwait International Bank were fl at at 832 fils and 234 fils respectively whereas Gulf Bank clipped 1 fil. Warba Bank did not budge from its earlier close of 235 fils.
Climbed
Burgan Bank and Ahli United Bank took in 1fil each whereas Boubyan Bank gave up 2 fils. Commercial Bank climbed 5 fils to 515 fils and Al Ahli Bank slipped 3 fils to 291 fils. Al Mutahed tripped 0.1fil. KIPCO fell 3 fils to 206 fils and Gulf Finance House closed 0.3 fil up at 100 fils. Kuwait Investment Co clipped 1fil whereas National Investment Co and Coast Investment Co held ground at 84 fils and 31.2 fils respectively.
Securities House Co edged 0.9 fil higher. Kuwait Financial Centre ( Markaz) gained 4 fil and Al Mal Investment edged 0.7 fil into red. KFIC climbed 4.3 fils to 47.6 fils and Amwal Investment took in 1.4 fils. Al Imtiaz paused at 130 fils and Warba Insurance Co trimmed 0.1 fil. Noor Financial Investment dialed up 0.7 fil and Unicap ticked 0.5 fil higher.
The company’s profits spiked 497 pct during the second quarter to KD 2.8 mln while during the first six months the earnings soared 192.3 pct to KD 3.04 million. Mabanee Co eased 1 fil to 632 fils and Kuwait Real Estate inched 0.7 fil into green. National Real Estate fell 2 fils to 100 fils and Salhiya Real Estate was unchanged at 328 fils.
Mazaya Holding closed 0.5 fil higher at 78 fils. The market was been largely downbeat so far during the week shedding 17 points in last three sessions after falling 4 pts during whole of September. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.
By John Mathews Arab Times Staff
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