Kuwait index retreats in ‘lacklustre’ session
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KFH dips 9 fils, Ooredoo ticks up
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 18: Kuwait stocks pulled lower on Tuesday erasing the week’s earlier gains. The All Shares Index dropped 31.75 pts in lackluster trade to 5,130.83 points dragged by banks and most of the heavy weights even as the overall mood remained soggy. The Prime Market skidded 44,.54 pts to 5,357.60 points and Main Market was down 8.19 pts to 4,718 points.
The volume turnover meanwhile jumped past the 100 million mark for the second time during the week. Over 121 million shares changed hands – a 24 pct surge from the day before. The sectors closed mostly in the red turf. Oil and gas outshone the rest with 0.77 pct gain whereas consumer goods shed 1.35 percent, the worst performer of day. Volume wise, banks notched the highest market share of 49.4 percent and real estate trailed with 21.3 pct contribution.
Among prominent shares, Kuwait Finance House dived 9 fils to 611 fils after trading over 10 million shares and Boubyan Bank followed suit to wind up at 576 fils. Mabanee Co skidded 8 fils to 618 fils and Mezzan Holding shed 10 fils. Zain slipped 7 fils to 464 fils after trading over 5 million shares and Ooredoo dialed down 2 fils with thin trading.
Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) fell 3 fils to 768 fils and Agility was down 10 fils at 800 fils . The market opened firm and ticked up in early trade. The main index scaled the day’s highest level of 5,163 pts and retreated thereafter as selling kicked in. It drifted sideways past the mid-session and bottomed at 5,124 points before closing with moderate losses.
Top gainer of the day, Mashaer Holding rallied 16 pct to 55 fils and Tahssilat was down 7.8 pct at 20.5 fils. OSOS dived 11.8 percent to 97 fils and Ahli United Bank topped the volume with 21.1 million shares. Refl ecting the day’s downswing, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 34 stocks advanced whereas 59 closed lower. Of the 114 counters active on Tuesday, 21 closed flat. 5,776 deals worth KD 30.38 million were transacted – a 44.9 pct spike in value from the day before.
National Industries Group dropped 4 fils to 157 fils and Mezzan Holding shed 10 fils to close at 530 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co tripped 1 fil and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co was up 3 fils at 357 fils. BIIHC gave up 3 fils to end at 31 fils. Jazeera Airways eased 1 fil to 729 fils and ALAFCO added 3 fils to close at 356 fils with razor thin trade.
Mashaer Holding climbed 7.6 fils to 55 fils on back of 7.5 million shares and OSOS shed 13 fils. Equipment Holding tripped 0.2 fil. Kuwait Cement Co fell 5 fils to 355 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement soared 43 fils.
Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co slipped 7 fils to 393 fils and ACICO Industries was down 8 fils at 162 fils. NICBM paused at 190 fils and Al Rai Media Group edged 0.9 fil into red. Kuwait Foundry Co fell 2 fils to 178 fils and Gulf Cable gave up 4 fils to end at 361 fils.
Automated Systems Co stood pat at 110 fils and AAN ticked 0.2 fil higher. KPPC dialed down 0.5 fil and Al Rai Media Group tripped 0.9 fil. Humansoft Holding tumbled 70 fils to KD 3.360 and NAPESCO scaled 20 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co fell 0.8 fil to 96 fils and KGL Logistics edged 0.2 fil higher to 40 fils. Combined Group Contracting Co rose 3 fils to 318 fils and Inovest gave up 4 fils.
In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait eased 1 fil to 842 fils after trading 6.6 million shares and Kuwait International Bank clipped 2 fils. Ahli United Bank added 3 fils on back of a whopping 21.2 million shares. Commercial Bank and Warba Bank held ground unchanged at 500 fils and 222 fils respectively whereas Al Mutahed was down 6 fils at 296 fils.
Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the session. KIPCO fell 3 fils to 210 fils while GFH closed 3.4 fils lower at 88.1 fils. International Financial Advisers tripped 1.3 fils whereas National Investment Co and Kuwait Investment Co paused at 83.5 fils and 128 fils respectively. ALOLA and Coast Investment Co trimmed 0.5 fil each. Bayan Investment Co took in 1 fil and KMEFIC eased 0.2 fil to 31.6 fils. Securities House Co and Al Salam trimmed 0.3 fil each whereas Madar Finance and Investment clipped 1 fil. Al Mal Investment inched 0.3 fil into red. Osoul Investment rose 1.7 fils to 57 fils and Unicap was fl at at 65 fils. Al Deera Holding clipped 2 fils and Ektittab Holding tripped 0.9 fil before settling at 18 fils. Noor Financial Investment ticked 0.1 fil down and Sokouk Holding dialed up 1 fil.
Al Imtiaz and Gulf Insurance Co were unchanged at 129 fils whereas Warba Insurance Co climbed 4 fils to 670 fils Kuwait Real Estate took in 0.5 fil on back of 3 million shares while Salhiya Real Estate and Marakez stood pat at 328 fils and 23 fils respectively. Mazaya Holding fell 2.6 fils to 73.1 fils and Mena Holding added 1 fil. The bourse has been mixed so far during the week shedding 18 pts in last three sessions and has added 22 points so far during the month. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.
By John Mathews Arab Times Staff
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