Kuwait market edges down in anemic trade – Ooredoo tumbles 60 fils; NBK gains

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KUWAIT CITY, Sept 1: Kuwait stocks slipped into red on Thursday as it kicked off the month on a sour note. The bourse dropped 10.47 pts in anemic trading to 5,409.21 pts as sentiment was roiled by fall in oil prices which had been hovering below the $50 mark in the recent weeks.

The KSX 15 measure rose 3.47 pts to 805.3 pts paring the year’s losses to 79 points while weighted index inched 0.34 pts lower. The volume turnover meanwhile hit a multi-month low as investors refrained from taking up fresh position in absence of catalysts. 31.9 million shares changed hands — a whopping 48 pct plunge from the day before.

The sectors closed mixed. Consumer services outpaced the rest with 0.35 pct gain whereas consumer goods shed 1.37 pct, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, real estate clocked the highest market share of 32.9 percent while financial services and banks followed with 24.7 pct and 20.4 percent contributions respectively.

In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait clawed back Wednesday’s drop with a 10 fils gain while Commercial Bank of Kuwait shed 15 fils. Mabanee Co slid 20 fils to KD 0.780 taking the year-to-date losses to 260 fils.

Zain rose 5 fils to 325 fils recouping an identical drop in the last session while Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) tumbled 60 fils to KD 1.040. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) stood pat at KD 0.910 and logistics major Agility was up 5 fils at KD 0.465.

Kuwait Food Co (Americana) pulled up from early lows to close flat at KD 2.440 and National Petroleum Services Co shed 20 fils. The company has logged a net profit of KD 3.75 million and earnings per share of 67.49 fils in the first half of 2016.

The market opened flat and moved briefly along the rim. The main index slipped into red as sentiment turned negative and continued to move sideways thereafter. It troughed at 5391.82 pts in the final minutes before paring back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Gulf Finance Co swung 6.67 percent higher to 24 fils and KMEFIC climbed 4.17 pct to stand next. Real Estate Trade Center (Marakez) shed 7.25 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Kuwait Real Estate Centre topped the volume with 4.7 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s downswing, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 25 stocks advanced whereas 36 closed lower. Of the 110 counters active on Thursday, 49 closed flat. 1287 deals worth KD 2.8 million were transacted- a 58 pct slide in value from the day before.

National Industries Group was flat at 116 fils after trading 1.2 million shares and Gulf Cable gave up 5 fils to end at KD 0.370. Kuwait Foundry Co stood flat at 164 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co added 4 fils to settle at 196 fils.

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Humansoft Holding paused at KD 1.480 and ALAFCO clipped 2 fils. The company has posted a net profit of KD 9.94 million and earnings per share 10.95 fils in the nine-month period ending June 30, 2016 as compared to net profit of KD 13.35 million and earnings per share of 16.31 fils in the same period last year.

PAPCO slipped 5 fls to 95 fils and KGL Logistics Company stagnated at 71 fils. The company has posted a net profit of 30, 2016 KD 3.76 million and earnings per share of 6.36 fils in the first half of 2016.

Zimah Holding Co and Mezzan Holding Co were unchanged at 40 fils and KD 1.040 respectively while Oula Fuel took in2 fils. Equipment Holding Co eased 1 fil to 44 fils and AWJ Holding Co closed 2 fils.

Boubyan Petrochemical Co gave up 5 fils to settle at 485 fils and Soor Fuel Marketing Co dialed up 4 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank was unchanged at 226 fils and Al Ahli Bank followed suit to wind up at KD 0.320. Kuwait International Bank eased 2 fils whereas Burgan Bank and Kuwait Finance House stood pat at KD 0.325 and KD 0.460 respectively.

Ahli United Bank was muted at 385 fils and Warba Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of 166 fils. 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.

Investment conglomerate KIPCO paused at KD 0.550 off early lows and National Investment Co too held the ground at 104 fils. International Financial Advisors dialed down 1 fil whereas KMEFIC inched 1 fil into green.

Al Mal Investment and KFIC added 0.5 fil each to close at 21.5 fils and 39 fils respectively while Securities House Co was flat at 46 fils. Bayan Investment Co clipped 1.5 fils and Ektittab Holding was down by same measure to end at 38.5 fils.

Sokouk Holding Co and Noor Financial Investment Co took in 0.5 fil each whereas Al Deera Holding Co stagnated at 32 fils. Amwal Investment Co stood pat at 19 fils and Warba Insurance Co followed suit.

United Real Estate Co and Mazaya Holding Co rose 2 fils each while National Real Estate Co held steady at 77 fils.

The market has been largely downbeat during last week. The price index closed lower in four of the five sessions and has slid 20 points week-on-week. It has shed 31 pts during whole of August and is down 3.67 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 and earnings per share of 0.2 fils in the six-months period ending June 6, 2016 rebounding from a net loss of KD 95,105 and loss per share of 1.1 fil 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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