Kuwait’s stocks extend gains, volume rebounds – Jazeera Airways up 20 fils; Boubyan Bank advances

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KUWAIT CITY, Oct 17: Kuwait stocks extended gains into second day on Tuesday, helped by rebound in technology shares. The main index advanced 12.34 points in choppy trading to close at 6,648.3 points.

The KSX-15 benchmark rose 1.28 points to 1,008.41 points and the weighted index was up 0.28 points. The volume turnover meanwhile rebounded slightly from the previous session. About 80.5 million shares changed hands, a rise of 18.53 percent from last session.

The sectors closed mixed. Technology rebounded to outperformed the rest with 2.11 percent upswing while consumer services fell 0.58 percent to end the day as the worst performing sector. In terms of volume traded, financial services topped the volume with 42.38 pct of market share while real estate and banks trailed behind with 28.10 pct and 12.80 pct contributions respectively.

Munshaat Real Estate Co jumped 7.31 percent to close as the top gainer of the day and Real Estate Centers Co rose 5.54 percent in small trading volume to stand next. Burgan Co for Well Drilling plunged 19.80 percent with small trading volume, the steepest decliner of the day.

The Securities House Co rose 3.89 pct to dominated the turnover chart with shares of 9.67 million shares changing hands followed by Abyaar Real Estate Development Co and National Industries Group with 7.2 million and 6.4 million trading volume respectively.

The market opened on a tame note and edged higher in early trade. The price index moved sideways and headed north in the final moments to close with green zone.

National Petroleum Services Co gained 26 fils while Jazeera Airyways closed 20 fils higher. Nafais Holding edged up 10 fils in small trading volume, whereas Agility was up 5 fils to add its gains to KD 0.845. Future Kid Entertainment slipped 12 fils to finish at KD 0.111, Automated Systems Co fell 4 fils extending its losses in the previous session to KD 0.146.

The banking sector closed with slight gains. Sector heavyweight National Bank of Kuwait eased 1 fil, while Kuwait International Bank followed suit. Kuwait Finance House finished flat at KD 0.606 in heavy trade. However, Boubyan Bank advanced 7 fils in heavy trade and Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait rose 2 fils to close at KD 0.312. Ahli United Bank and Commercial Bank of Kuwait were up 1 fil each. Burgan Bank and Warba Bank stagnated during this session.

Meanwhile, Gulf Bank shares closed flat after the bank announced its financial results for the first nine months of 2017. The Bank recorded a net profit of KD 36.1 million in the first 9M 2017, an increase of 10% over the same period in 2016.

Reflecting on the day’s upswing, the winners took a modest lead as 48 shares gained and 46 stocks closed lower. Of the 118 counters active on Tuesday, 24 closed flat. A total of 3,119 deals worth KD 12.03 million were transacted, a decline of 29.19 percent in value from the previous session.

VIVA led the telecom sector lower with a drop of 3 fils, whereas Ooredoo did not budge from its earlier close of KD 1.171 in small trading volume and Zain stood pat at KD 0.510 after trading 2.7 million shares. AAN Digital Services Co finished 2.74 percent down after trading about 2.8 million shares.

Humansoft Holding Co eased 1 fil to close at KD 4.049 in small trading volume whereas OSOS Holding Group Co gained 4 fils and ACICO Industries Co was up by the same amount to close at KD 0.268. Boubyan Petrochemical Co and Qurain Petrochemical Co inched 2 fils and 3 fils higher respectively. Oula Fuel Marketing Co rose 2 fils while Soor Fuel Marketing Co dived 1 fil in thin trade.

Kuwait Investment and Kuwait Projects Co closed flat, while Commercial Facilities Co added 1 fil. National Investment Co gave up 3 fils on the back of about 2.6 million shares traded, whereas Arzan Financials Group for Financing and Investment fell 2.8 fils.

Tamdeen Real Estate Co plummeted 16 fils and Mabanee Co rose 3 fils. National Real Estate Co fell 3 fils and Kuwait Real Estate Co was up by 0.7 fil while United Real Estate Co lost 2.5 fils. Tijara & Real Estate Investment Co climbed 2.5 fils, while Al Mazaya Holding sank 1 fil to close at KD 0.114.

Gulf Cable and Electrical Industries Co tumbled 3 fils and Heavy Engineering Co shed 1 fil to finish at KD 0.215. Arabi Holding dropped 3.5 fils in thin trading to 85 fils, while Combined Group Contracting Co lost 3 fils.

The market has been mixed during the week. The main index has closed higher in two sessions and has advanced 26.0 points during the week. However, it has lost 23.33 points from the start of the month but gained 15.66 percent year-to-date. Boursa Kuwait is the second largest bourse in the region.

By Iliasu Abubakari – Arab Times Staff

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