Kuwait index tumbles as regional impasse weighs – NAPESCO dives 149 fils; NBK gains
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KUWAIT CITY, July 2: Kuwait stocks swung sharply lower on Sunday as it kicked off the week on sour note. The bourse, after a tame start, tumbled 150.3 points to 6,612.52 points weighed by heavy selling in select counters. The heavyweights however closed mixed.
The KSX 15 benchmark climbed 5.03 points to 915.13 points taking the year’s gains to 30 points while weighted index eased 0.42 points. The volume turnover meanwhile rebounded after hitting a two-week low in the last session. 48.5 million shares changed hands — a 39.5 pct surge from Thursday.
The sectors closed mostly in red turf. Consumer goods outshone the rest with 1.71 percent gain whereas technology slumped 6.29 pct, the steepest decliner of the day. In terms of volume, financial services mustered the highest market share of 40 pct and real estate trailed far behind with 20 percent contribution.
Among day’s losers, NAPESCO plunged 149 fils to KD 1.206 while Eyas For Higher and Technical Education tanked 190 fils. Automated Systems Co slid 43 fils and Mabanee Co was down 10 fils at 769 fils.
Zain fell 7 fils to 413 fils after trading 1.8 million shares while Ooredoo dipped 47 fils to KD 1.055 taking year’s losses to 145 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co inched 1 fil up and Agility took in 2 fils to settle at 822 fils.
National Bank of Kuwait climbed 15 fils to 690 fils and Burgan Bank was up 7 fils at 332 fils. The bank has registered a 24.6% year-on-year increase in profits to KD 17.81 mln for the first quarter of 2017. The net operating profit however saw a drop of 3.4 pct to KD 29.16 million.
The market opened on flat note and moved sideways in early trade. The main index hit the day’s highest mark of 6784.50 points and headed south thereafter as selling in select counters roiled the sentiment. It bottomed at 6,593.38 pts in the final minutes before paring back some of the losses at close.
Top gainer of the day, IFA Hotels and Resorts spiked 20 pct to 252 fils and NCCI climbed 10.19 percent to stand next. Ream dived 40 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Imtiaz topped the volume with 6.5 million shares.
Reflecting the day’s slide, the market spread was heavily skewed towards the losers. 27 stocks advanced whereas 69 closed lower. Of the 115 counters active on Sunday, 19 closed flat. 2,528 deals worth KD 9.38 million were transacted — a 39.2 pct jump in value from the previous session.
National Industries Group fell 2 fils to 111 fils and Gulf Cable was up 5 fils at 420 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co was unchanged at 216 fils while Contracting and Marine Services Co inched 1 fil lower. Jazeera Airways was flat at 474 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement shed 20 fils. Metal and Recycling Co dialed up 2 fils and Educational Holding Group clipped 2 fils to close at 371 fils.
Dropped
Burgan Well Drilling Co dropped 16.5 fils while Combined Group Contracting Co added 5 fils to end at 619 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co gave up 2 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co was down 8 fils at 334 fils.
Equipment Holding Co clipped 1 fil and Acico Industries rose 6 fils to 262 fils. The company’s first quarter profits rose by 0.78 pct to KD 3.88 mln as compared to KD 3.85 million in Q1 of 2016. Net operating profits was up 11.8 percent to KD 9.87 million.
Humansoft Holding Co eased 1 fil and Al Rai Media Group followed suit. The company has posted 66.7% drop in profits in the first quarter of 2017 to KD 449,760. The net operating profit dipped 64.9% to KD 495,540.
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank was unchanged at 247 fils and Kuwait Finance House too did not budge from its earlier close of 483 fils after trading 1.3 million shares.
Boubyan Bank took in 1 fil and Warba Bank inched 1 fil into red. Commercial Bank and Al Ahli Bank were not traded during the session. Kuwait International Bank paused at 244 fils.
KIPCO was unchanged at 336 fils whereas National Investment Co closed 2 fils down at 99 fils. Kuwait Investment Co eased 0.1 fil whereas Coast Investment Co and Osoul Investment Co stood pat at 40.5 fils and 58 fils respectively.
KFIC trimmed 0.5 fils and Securities House Co gave up 1.5 fils to close at 40.5 fils. Ektittab Holding slipped 5 fils and Sokouk Holding dialed down 1.8 fils. Alola fell 2.1 fils to 44.8 fils and Al Salam dropped 3 fils.
Noor Financial Investment Co clipped 0.4 fils whereas Tamdeen Investment Co stalled at 300 fils. Warba Insurance Co dipped 13.5 fils to 85 fils and International Financial Advisors closed 1.2 fils in red.
National Real Estate Co and Kuwait Real Estate Co gave up 1 fil each whereas United Real Estate Co held ground at 84.9 fils. Mazaya Holding trimmed 1 fil to end at 110 fils and Marakez closed 2.5 fils in red.
The market was downbeat during last week. The main index closed lower in both sessions and slipped 10 points week-on-week. It had shed 26 points during whole of June and is trading 15 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, Kuwait Finance and Investment (KFIC) rebounded to post a net profit of KD 146,350 in the first three months of 2017, from KD 255,510 loss in first quarter of 2016. Operating income grew 76% year-on-year to reach KD 1.65 million.
Aayan Real Estate has recorded a 164.7 percent jump in its profits to KD 536,890 for the first quarter of 2017 from same period in the year before. During 2016, the profit saw a 1.5% uptick to KD 2.75 million in 2016 from the previous year.
Ooredoo Kuwait has posted 26.6 pct jump in profits during the first quarter of 2017 to KD 12.93 million from KD 10.21 million in same period last year. It had recorded a growth of 75% in profits to KD 46.67 million during 2016.
Mowasat Healthcare has registered a 40.2% increase in net profits in the first quarter of 2017, to reach KD 1.92 million as compared to KD 1.37 million in the year before period.
Al Ahleia Insurance’s first quarter net profit dropped by 14.5% in the first to KD 2.88 million from KD 3.37 million in Q1 of 2016. Operational income dipped 39.6 pct to KD 1.58 million
National Ranges Company’s (Mayadeen) losses shrank by 18.2 pct in the first quarter of 2017 to KD 642,620 from about KWD 785,610 in same period of 2016
By John Mathews
Arab Times Staff
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