Kuwait stocks ‘kick off’ month on sluggish note – Ooredoo dips 31 fils; NBK gains

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KUWAIT CITY, Aug 1: Kuwait stocks pulled lower on Tuesday as it kicked off the month on a tepid note. The price index dropped 8.95 points in choppy session to 6,842.67 pts weighed by selling in select counters even as the heavyweights closed narrowly mixed.

The KSX 15 gauge edged 1.36 pts higher to 944.53 points while weighted index was up 0.44 pts at 413.73 points. The volume turnover meanwhile tapered slightly after Monday’s uptick. Over 61 million shares changed hands — a 3.7 pct fall from the day before.

The sectors closed mixed. Insurance outshone the rest with 0.83 pct gain whereas technology dived 5.34 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services garnered the highest market share of 42.2 percent and real estate followed with 28.5 percent.

In the individual shares, Kuwait Finance House fell 3 fils to 532 fils after trading 2.4 million shares and KIPCO rose 5 fils to 369 fils recouping most of last session’s losses. Jazeera Airways shed 20 fils and the stock has slid 290 fils year-to-date.

Zain took in 2 fils before settling at 446 fils while Ooredoo dipped 31 fils to KD 1.133 with thin volume, Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) climbed 5 fils to 806 fils and Agility gave up 5 fils extending Monday’s drop.

National Bank of Kuwait rose 3 fils on back of 1.2 million shares and Warba Bank fell 3 fils. The bank’s second quarter profit soared 860.6% to KD 1.22 million from Q2 of 2016. In the January-June period, profits clocked KD 2.52 million.

The market opened firm and ticked up in early trade. The main index scaled the day’s highest level of 6,857.37 points and retreated thereafter as sentiment weakened. It plumbed the day’s lowest level of 6,817.27 pts in the final minutes before paring back most of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Al Deera Holding rallied 15.52 pct to 33.5 fils and Al Salam Investment Co climbed 8.6 percent to stand next. Burgan Well Drilling Co slid 16.67 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Salam topped the volume with over 11 million shares.

Despite the day’s downtick, the winners outnumbered the losers. 55 stocks advanced whereas 43 closed lower. Of the 118 counters active on Tuesday, 20 closed flat. 2601 deals worth over KD 6 million were transacted — a 34.2 pct drop in value from the day before.

National Industries Group inched 1 fil up to 139 fils on back of over 1 million shares and Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co followed suit. Gulf Cable rose 3 fils to 430 fils and NCCI shed 13 fils.

Equipment Holding Co fell 1.2 fils to 49.6 fils and Educational Holding Group was down 15 fils at 360 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co took in 1 fil each to close at 571 fils and 348 fils respectively.

OSOS was down 10 fils at 131 fils and Acico Industries dipped 15 fils. The company has posted a profits of KD 745,000 for the second quarter, a 35.8 pct drop from same period last year. In the first half , the earnings dipped 7.8% to KD 4.62 million.

Paused

NAPESCO and Humansoft Holding paused at 950 fils and KD 4.300 respectively after Monday’s strong gains while Eyas Higher and Technical Education climbed 10 fils. AWJ Holding added 2.4 fils to end at 80.5 fils.

Burgan Well Drilling Co dropped 15 fils to 75 fils while Combined Group Contracting Co gave up 3 fils. Al Rai Media Group was flat at 119 fils and Mezzan Holding rose 4 fils to 906 fils. Kuwait Cable Vision Co paused at 27.9 fils.

In the banking sector, Commercial Bank of Kuwait and Kuwait International Bank were unchanged at 350 fils and 247 fils respectively whereas Al Mutahed was not traded during the session .

Burgan Bank rose 3 fils to 354 fils whereas Gulf Bank and Boubyan

Bank trimmed 1 fil each. Al Ahli Bank slipped 2 fils to 317 fils.

National Investment Co inched 1 fil higher to 112 fils and Kuwait Investment Co dialed up 2.3 fils. International Financial Advisor edged 0.4 fil up to 39 fils while Coast Investment Co and Securities House Co were flat at 43.5 fils and 45.2 fils respectively.

Bayan Investment Co too in 0.1 fil and KAMCO added 2.4 fils. The company’s earnings dipped 25.6 percent during the second quarter of 2017 to KD 437,990 as compared to Q2 of 2016. During the first six months, the profit slid 48.2 percent to nearly KD 375,360 .

Sokouk Holding eased 0.5 fil to 46.5 fils and Noor Financial Investment Co closed 0.4 fil in green. Unicap took in 1 fil whereas National Investment House slipped 3 fils to 65 fils. KFIC and KMEFIC trimmed 0.1 fil each.

Noor Financial Investment Co rose 0.4 fil to 52 fils while Al Deera Holding and Al Salam climbed 4.5 fils each. Kuwait Insurance Co shed 12 fils and Gulf insurance Co jumped 30 fils to 630 fils.

Mabanee Co scaled 15 fils recouping last session’s losses wheile Salhiya Real Estate Co clipped 2 fils. Kuwait Real Estate Co inched 0.2 fil into green and National Real Estate Co closed 1 fil lower at 126 fils. Mazaya Holding slipped 3 fils to 790 fils.

The market has been mixed so far during the week and has climbed 35 points in last three sessions. The main index had rallied 91 points during whole of July and is trading 19.04 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Munshaat Real Estate Projects’s losses narrowed by 80.3 pct to KD 240,000 in the second quarter of 2017. In the first half, the losses was down by 52 percent to KD 1.3 million.

Aayan Real Estate’s profit soared 84.9 pct year-on-year in the second quarter to KD 357,600. During the first half of 2017, profits jumped 125.7 percent to KD 894,490.

Ekttitab Holding’s profits dropped 16.8 pct during the second quarter to KD 439,200 from same period last year. In the January-June period the earnings was down 26.5 percent to KD 201,700.

Gulf Insurance Group’s earnings dived 27.6 pct year-on-year during the second quarter to KD 2.77 million. During the first six months of 2017, the profits dropped 21.6% to KD 5.59 million .

Aqar Real Estate Investment’s second quarter profits surged 27 pct to KD 350,410 mln from same period last year helped by increase of rent revenues. The revenues rose 23.4 percent to KD 687,320 in the first half while operating revenues climbed 21.6 percent to KD 987,070.

National International Holding Co recorded a 66.2 percent dip in the second quarter profit to KD 828,500 from same period last year. In the first half of 2017, the profits tumbled 56 percent to KD 1.2 million.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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