publish time

02/07/2020

author name Arab Times

publish time

02/07/2020

NBK rallies 77 fils, Mabanee Co slips

KUWAIT CITY, July 2: Kuwait stocks chalked a modest rebound on Thursday to wind up the week on a cheery note.

The All Shares Index rose 21.54 pts to 5,123.80 points in a choppy session amid fresh buying in some of the blue chips even as the overall mood remained fickle. The Premier Market rallied 33.04 points to 5,599.43 pts while Main Market ticked 1.54 points lower to 4,184.57 pts. The BK 50 Main fell 3.69 points to 4,176.16 pts. The volume turnover, meanwhile, dipped below the 100 million mark to hit a multi- month low.

Over 83 million shares changed hands – down 21 percent from the day before. The sectors closed mixed. Industrial sector outshone the rest with 0.85 percent gain whereas Real Estate shed 0.6 pct, the worst performer of the day. Banking sector were ahead in both volume and value with 33.4 million shares traded for KD 9.7 million.

Among the standout performers, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait rallied 77 fils to 823 fils on back of 2.8 million shares stemming the three-day fall while Kuwait Finance House added 3 fils after pushing 3.7 million shares and has retreated 202 fils year-to-date. Mabanee Co slipped 6 fils to 659 fils. Zain climbed 5 fils to 558 fils on back of 2.89 million shares while Ooredoo gave up 3 fils extending last session’s losses and closed at 651 fils. STC rose 3 fils to 651 fils while logistics major Agility sprinted 7 fils to 735 fils with a volume of 1.3 million. Humansoft Holding jumped 30 fils to KD 2.780 and KIPCO fell 4 fils.

The market opened firm and headed north in early trade. The main index continued to climb in choppy trading amid buying spurt in some of the blue chips and moved sideways past the mid-session before ending with modest gains. Top gainer of the day, Thuraya rallied 13 pct to 139 fils and NICBM sprinted 6 pct to stand next. National Ranges Co skidded 5 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Ahli Uniited Bank continued to top the volume with 16.5 million shares. Despite the day’s gains, the market spread as nearly even. 46 stocks advanced whereas 43 closed lower. Of the 108 counters active on Thursday, 19 closed fl at. 5,475 deals worth KD 17.1 million were transacted during the session.

National Industries Group dialed up 2 fils on back of 1.6 million shares while Mezzan Holding rose 4 fils to 596 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co too added 4 fils while Al Qurain Petrochemical Co clipped 1 fil before settling at 274 fils. Integrated Holding Group dialed up 2 fils. OSOS eased 1 fil to 95.9 fils.

Jazeera Airways and ALAFCO stood pat at 645 fils and 167 fils respectively and Advanced Technology Co too did not budge from its earlier close of 600 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co trimmed 0.7 fil and KGL Logistics inched 0.5 fil into red. NICBM gained 9 fils and KCPC took in 2 fils. Kuwait Cement Co dialed up 2 fils whereas Kuwait Portland Cement tripped 1 fil to close at 790 fils. Gulf Cable climbed 6 fils to 561 fils while Kuwait Foundry Co added 2 fils. ACICO Industries clipped 2 fils and Educational Holding Group sprinted 14 fils to 309 fils. Al Kout Industries shed 6 fils and Gulf Petroleum Investment paused at 16.1 fils.

In the Banking sector, Gulf Bank took in 1 fil on back of 3.2 million shares while Kuwait International Bank was up 2 fils at 175 fils. Burgan Bank stood pat at 194 fils and Boubyan Bank inched 1 fil higher. The market was mixed during the week.

The main index closed lower in three of the five sessions shedding 43 points week-on-week. It had rallied 135 points during whole of June and is down 1,157 points yearto- date.

By John Mathews Arab Times Staff