Kuwait bourse retreats 18.54 pts; volume ‘dips’ – Zain falls 5 fils; Jazeera Airlines gains

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KUWAIT CITY, Oct 13: Kuwait stocks swung lower on Thursday to wind up the week on a sour note. The price index, after a tame start, dropped 18.54 pts even as sentiment remained largely subdued barring some speculative interest in select counters.

The KSX 15 benchmark eased 1.15 pts to 803.78 points and is down 11 pts from start of the month while weighted index inched 0.38 pts into red. The volume turnover meanwhile dipped to second lowest level in over a month. 33.6 million shares changed hands — a 7.7 pct drop from Wednesday.

The sectors closed mostly in the red. Banks, the only gainer, rose 0.15 pct while telecommunications shed 1.50 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, real estate notched the highest market share of 41.14 percent while financial services stood next with 29.5 pct contribution.

In the individual shares, KIPCO dipped 10 fils to 500 fils extending an identical fall in the day before while Kuwait Food Co (Americana) bounced 40 fils to KD 2.600. Jazeera Airways gained 20 fils trimming the year’s losses to 60 fils.

Zain fell 5 fils to 335 fils while Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) climbed 20 fils to KD 1.120 with thin trading. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) dropped 20 fils to KD 0.860 whereas logistics major Agility gave up 5 fils before settling at KD 0.470.

Sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait gyrated in a tight range before closing flat at 590 fils and Warba Bank followed suit. The bank has logged a net profit KD 455,000 and earnings per share of 0.46 fils in the first six months of 2016.

The market opened on tepid note and moved sideways in early trade. The main index slipped into red almost 30 minutes into the session as sentiment turned weak. It traded choppy past the mid-session before plumbing the day’s lowest level of 5,319.8 pts in the final minutes. It however clawed back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Al Aqaria spiked 7.32 pct to 22 fils while Aayan Real Estate Co climbed 6.67 pct to stand next. Yiaco slid 9.17 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Investors International Holding Group topped the volume with 7.5 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s downswing, the losers vastly outnumbered the winners. 24 stocks advanced whereas 49 closed lower. Of the 105 counters active on Thursday, 32 closed flat. 1,171 deals worth over KD 4 million were transacted — a 37.3 pct jump in value from the day before.

National Industries Group was unchanged at 110 fils off early lows and Gulf Cable too did not budge from its earlier close of 375 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co was down 6 fils at 154 fils whereas Boubyan Petrochemical Co paused at 460 fils.

ACICO Industries Co shed 10 fils and NICBM climbed 8 fils to 202 fils. Al Qurain Petrochemical Industries was flat at 196 fils and BIHC clipped 0.5 fil before closing at 26 fils.

Gained

Equipment Holding Co eased 1 fil and Combined Group Contracting Co gained 10 fils. The company has registered a net profit of KD 219,574 and earnings per share of 1.63 fils in the first six months of 2016.

Humansoft Holding Co was unchanged at KD 1.500 and Kuwait National Cinema Co was up 10 fils. The company 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.

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co fell 1.5 fils whereas KGL Logistics Co stalled at 72 fils. Zimah Holding Co was unchanged at 39 fils and Mezzan Holding Co was down 10 fils at KD 0.960.

AWJ Holding Co eased 1 fil and Yiaco Medical Co shed 20 fils. The company has incurred a net loss of KD 1.86 million and losses per share of 10.26 fils in the January-June period down from net profit of KD 639,485 and earnings per share of 3.52 fils in the same period last year.

In the banking sector Kuwait Finance House was unchanged at 465 fils off early lows and Gulf Bank dialed up 2 fils to close at 230 fils. Al Ahli Bank stood pat at 310 fils and Commercial Bank of Kuwait was not traded during the session.

Burgan Bank and Ahli United Bank stagnated at 320 fils and 385 fils respectively while Boubyan Bank added 5 fils to wind up at 385 fils. Kuwait International Bank took in 2 fils before closing at 186 fils.

National Investment Co fell 2 fils to 108 fils while Al Mal Investment Co and Securities House Co clipped 1.5 fils each to end at 22.5 fils and 39.5 fils respectively. Securities Group Co paused at 85 fils.

Bayan Investment Co and Osoul Investment Co eased 1 fil each to 30 fils and 41 fils respectively whereas Aayan Investment Co stagnated at 28 fils. Al Deera Holding gave up 2.5 fils and Ektittab Holding Co followed suit.

Mabanee Co and Salhiya Real Estate Co were unchanged at KD 0.800 and 365 fils respectively whereas United Real Estate erased 3 fils before settling at 95 fils. National Real Estate Co inched 1 fil higher to 74 fils and Kuwait Real Estate Co stood pat at 50 fils.

The market was mixed during the week. The price index closed lower in four of the five sessions but added 8 pts week-on-week. It has dropped 73 pts so far during the month and has shed 5.11 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 198 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Hilal Cement Company has posted a net profit of KD 20.659 mln and earnings per share of 0.2 fils in the six-month period ending June 6, 2016 rebounding from a net loss of KD 95,105 and loss per share of 1.1 fils in the same period last year.

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.

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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