Kuwait index heads north, volume up
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Mabanee Co rallies 18 fils, Humansoft Holding slips
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 15: Kuwait stocks pulled higher on Tuesday after closing nearly flat in the previous session. The All Shares Index climbed 27.56 pts to 5599.21 points helped by fresh buying in some of the heavyweights and mid-caps.
The Premier Market scaled 22.16 points taking the month’s gains to 102 pts while Main Market swung 39.14 pts higher to 4592.29 pts. The BK 50 Main index gained 31.69 points. The volume turnover meanwhile saw a modest rise. Over 224 million shares changed hands – up 6 pct from the day before. The sectors closed mostly in the green turf. Oil and Gas outpaced the rest with 6 pct jump whereas Utilities shed 1 percent, the biggest loser of the day. Financial Services continued to top with over 72 million shares while Banking sector dominated in value with KD 16.6 million. Among the standout performers, Mabanee Co rallied 18 fils to 680 fils on back of 2.2 million shares while Tamdeen Investment sprinted 28 fils. Boubyan Bank recouped last session’s losses with 5 fils rise to 681 fils and Kuwait Finance House added 3 fils with a volume of 6.2 million.
Burgan Well Drilling Co soared 66 fils. Zain rose 3 fils to 611 fils after pushing 4.5 million shares and is up 30 fils so far in the month while Ooredoo gave up 4 fils to close at 620 fils. stc stood pat at 860 fils whereas logistics major Agility was up 4 fils at 682 fils on back of over 3 million shares. Humansoft Holding fell 5 fils to KD 3.645 and Boursa was down 8 fils at KD 1.127. KIPCO fell 2 fils to 154 fils and KAMCO trimmed 1 fil. Kuwait Investment Co and Noor Financial Investment dialed up 1 fil each whereas National Investment Co held ground at 140 fils. Kuwait Insurance Co jumped 25 fils with razor thin trading.
The market opened firm and edged higher in early trade. The main index continued to head north amid moderate buying in many counters and turned flattish halfway into the session. It however saw a spurt again in the final minutes before closing with modest gains. Reflecting the day’s gains, the winners outnumbered the losers. 63 stocks advanced whereas 39 closed lower. Of the 123 counters active on Tuesday, 21 closed flat. 10,587 deals worth KD 37.98 million were transacted during the session.
National Industries Group fell 3 fils to 185 fils after pushing 2.7 million shares while Mezzan Holding stood pat at 613 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co dialed up 2 fils while Al Qurain Petrochemical Co was up 4 fils at 344 fils. Integrated Holding paused at 382 fils and Aznoula gave up 3 fils before ending at 278 fils. Jazeera Airways took in 1 fil while ALAFCO gained 5 fils on back of 8.2 million shares to close at 222 fils. YIACO sprinted 26 fils with thin trading whereas Inovest trimmed 0.5 fil. Soor and Oula Fuel added 1 fil each whereas Dalqan slid 15 fils to 288 fils. Al Rai Media Group rose 3.3 fils to 44 fils.
Kuwait Cement Co dialed up 2 fils whereas Kuwait Portland Cement gave up 5 fils to close at 790 fils. Fujairah Cement Co added 1.5 fils whereas QIC clipped 1.9 fils before settling at 68.6 fils. Kuwait Foundry Co rose 3 fils to 290 fils whereas Gulf Cable slipped 6 fils. ACICO Industries clipped 1 fil and Salbookh dialed 2 fils to close at 25.5 fils. Combined Group Contracting Co eased 1 fil to 201 fils while UPAC closed 5 fils in red. KCPC was unchanged at 373 fils and Sultan Centre gained 4.3 fils on back of 1.8 million shares. IFA Hotels and Resorts rallied 6.2 fils with brisk trading. UPAC slipped 5 fils to 309 fils whereas Kuwait Hotels and Educational Holding Co closed flat at 56.1 fils and 346 fils respectively.
In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait took in 2 fils on back of 7.3 million shares while Gulf Bank was up 3 fils at 221 fils. Burgan Bank paused at 212 fils whereas Kuwait International Bank and Warba Bank dialed down 1 fil each. Commercial Bank gained 15 fils whereas Ahli United Bank and Al Ahli Bank closed flat. The market has been largely upbeat so far during the week, gaining 39 points over last three sessions. It has climbed 140 points from start of the month but is down 684 points year to- date.
By John Mathews Arab Times Staff
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