Kuwait stock index heads south as sentiment sours – Ooredoo dives 80 fils; NBK ticks up

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KUWAIT CITY, Nov 12: Kuwait stocks swung sharply into red on Sunday as it kicked off the week on a sour note. The bourse slid 82.41 pts to 6,176.06 points as regional tensions roiled the trading floor sentiment. Telecom service providers led the day’s decline and most of the heavyweights too closed lower.

The KSX 15 benchmark dropped 10.67 pts to 899.46 pts taking the month’s losses to 78 points while weighted index closed 5.8 pts lower. The volume turnover meanwhile shrank to a one-week low. 81.5 million shares changed hands — a 17.23 pct fall from last session.

All sectors closed in red. Insurance slumped 4.81 pct, the steepest decliner of the day whereas the least loser consumer goods eased 0.05 percent. Volume wise, real estate accounted for the highest market share of 28.7 pct and financial services trailed with 24.7 percent contribution.

Among prime losers, Ooredoo dived 80 fils to KD 1.060 and Kuwait Telecommunications Co dipped 40 fils to 720 fils. Zain was down 10 fils at 440 fils and logistics major Agility gave up 4 fils to settle at 725 fils.

Kuwait Finance House fell 5 fils to 538 fils after trading over 7 million shares and Gulf Bank slipped 4 fils to 240 fils. Investment conglomerate KIPCO dipped 12 fils to 288 fils extending last session’s losses and Mabanee Co tumbled 65 fils.

National Industries eked a modest 3 fils uptick whereas Kuwait International Bank closed flat. The bank has registered a net profit of KD 13.5 million for the third quarter of 2017 while earnings per share reached 14.42 fils.

The market opened weak and fell sharply in early trade. The price index continued to head south amid broad selling pressure and leveled off ahead of the mid-session. It drifted sideways before falling further to bottom at 6,167 pts in the final minutes and slightly clawed back at close.

Top gainer of the day Mashaer Holding rallied 10.7 pct to 70 fils and SPEC climbed 6.6 percent to stand next. Ahleia Insurance Co sank 20 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Investors Holding Group topped the volume with 10.5 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s slide, the market spread was skewed towards the losers, 25 stocks advanced whereas 77 closed lower. Of the 119 counters active on Sunday, 17 closed lower. 3723 deals worth KD 13.48 million were transacted — a 28 pct drop in value from the last session.

Kuwait Cement Co slid 56 fils to 400 fils and National Industries Group gave up 3 fils. The company has logged a profit of KD 2.12 million in the third quarter of 2017, rebounding from losses of KD 700,000 in the same period last year. In the first nine months, the profits climbed to KD 7.35 m.

Kuwait Foundry Co rose 5 fils whereas Kuwait Food Co (Americana) paused at KD 1.400. The company’s profits dropped 18.7 pct year-on-year to KD 16.65 million in the third quarter of 2017. The earnings were up by 0.5 pct to KD 44.9 million in the January-September period.

Slipped

Gulf Cable slipped 11 fils whereas Kuwait Portland Cement and Heavy Engineering and Shipbuilding Co were unchanged at 275 fils and 193 fils respectively. Equipment Holding Co eased 1.3 fils to 34.2 fils.

NICBM dropped 10 fils to 175 fils and ACICO stood pat at 245 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co slipped 9 fils to 625 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co shed 10 fils. Metal and Recycling Co added 4 fils.

Humansoft Holding was flat at KD 3.700 and NAPESCO rose 7 fils to 792 fils. Kuwait Gulf Links Transport Co gave up 2.5 fils and KGL Logistics closed 2.6 fils in red. KPPC clipped 1.7 fils and Educational Holding Group dialed up 2 fils.

Combined Group Contracting Co dived 27 fils to 468 fils and Al Rai Media Group was down 10 fils at 105 fils. GFH gave up 3 fils before closing at 122 fils.

In the banking sector Al Mutahed fell 5 fils whereas Commercial Bank and

Al Ahli Bank held ground at 400 fils and 305 fils respectively. Burgan Bank inched 1 fil lower and Boubyan Bank shed 9 fils. Warba Bank was down 6 fils at 208 fils.

Kuwait Investment Co fell 4 fils while International Financial Advisors and Osoul Investment Co trimmed 0.2 fil each. National Investment Co clipped 2 fils and Securities House Co eased 0.7 fil. Commercial Facilities Co gave up 3 fils to settle at 160 fils.

KAMCO ticked 0.5 fils to 70 fils while Bayan Investment Co and Noor Financial Investment Co fell 0.5 fil each. Sokouk Holding fell 1.8 fils and KFIC inched 1.1 fils into red. Coast Investment Co eased 1.8 fils to 31.7 fils.

Osoul Investment clipped 0.2 fil while Al Imtiaz and Unicap both closed 1 fil in red. Warba Insurance Co shed 10.1 fils and First Takaful slipped 4 fils to 67 fils.

National Real Estate Co fell 3 fils to 107 fils and United Real Estate Co stalled at 70.5 fils. AREEC dipped 7 fils to 160 fils and Mazaya Holding dialed down 1 fil.

The bourse was mixed during last week. The main index closed lower in two of the five sessions and has dived 210 points week-on-week. It has skidded 377 points from start of the month and is trading over 7.45 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Agility has recorded net profits of KD 49.2 million in the first nine months of 2017 while the return on equity increased by 13.7 percent to 39.1 fils per share. In the July-September period, the earnings soared 714 pct to KD 17.8 million, increasing by 714% year-on-year.

Kuwait Finance and Investment has posted a 35 percent year-on-year surge in profits to KD 299,483 for the first nine months of 2017 while earnings per share surged 35 percent to 1.0 fils. Total operating revenue rose 10% percent to KD 4.015 million during the period.

Gulf Bank of Kuwait’s total shareholders’ equity stood at KD 591.2 million by the end of September 2017. The net revenue from interest totaled KD 97.2 mln in January — September period while operating profits stood at KD 89.7 million.

Aqar Real Estate Investments Co’s earnings was down 6.42 pct year-on-year during the third quarter of 2017 to KD 345,140. In the January-September period, profits rose 11.5 percent to KD 1.03 million. The operating revenues rose 14.6 pct to KD 1.48 million in nine-month period.

Credit Rating and Collection Co’s (Tahssilat) losses widened to KD 269,840 in the third quarter of 2017 from KD 61,020 in the same period last year. During the nine-month period, it logged a profit of KD 830,200 against a loss of KD 291,200 in the same period in 2016.

By John Mathews – Arab Times Staff

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