Kuwait’s stocks kick off week on ‘sluggish’ note – Gulf Bank surges 4.71 pct; Kuwait Cable Vision dips 17.25%

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KUWAIT CITY, Oct 8: Kuwait stocks edged lower on Sunday to kick off week on a sluggish note following drop in oil prices by over 2 percent at the end of last week. The main index fell 1.41 points to close at 6,660.7 points with mixed boards. Bank shares rally and other blue chips closed mixed.

The KSX-15 benchmark rose 3.98 points to 1,032.71 points while the weighted index was up 2.06 points. The volume turnover meanwhile retreated  after a sharp rise in the last session. 175.9 million shares changed hands, down 20.69 percent from the previous session.

The sectors closed mixed. Banks outshone the rest with 0.88 percent upswing while real estate dropped 1.08 percent to end the day as the weakest performer. In terms of volume, financial services topped with 37.31 pct market share while banks and real estate trailed far behind with 31.71 pct and 13.7 pct contributions respectively.

In the individual shares, Egypt Kuwait Holding spikes 6.98 percent whereas IFA Hotels & Resorts Co advanced 6.79 pct with thin trading. Kuwait Co for Process Plant Construction jumped 6.67 pct while Real Estate Asset Management Co plummeted 16.45 percent to KD 0.254 and Wethaq Takaful Insurance Co sank 7.07 percent.

Top gainer of the day, Credit Rating & Collection Co surges 14.55 percent and Independent Petroleum Group climbed 10.14 percent to stand next at KD 0.380 fils. Kuwait Cable Vision  plunged 17.25 percent, the steepest decliner of the day. The heaviest traded stock Gulf Petroleum Investment dived 8.77 percent on the back of 19.8 million shares.

The market opened on a weak note and moved sideways in early trade. The index seesawed between small gains and losses amid speculative trading as investors toes with caution and slipped deep into red well past the mid-session. The bourse hits the day’s low level of 6,638.87 points before recovering some of the losses at close.

Boubyan Petrochemicals Co gained 2 fils to KD 0.669 and Qurain Petrochemical Co slipped 1 fil. Jazeera Airways jumped 4 fils to  KD 0.400 while ALAFCo Aviation Lease and Finance advanced 7 fils with heavy trade. Oula Fuel Marketing Co edged up 1 fil and Soor Fuel did not budge from its ealier close of KD 0.120.

Gulf Bank surges 4.71 percent after trading more than 18 million shares to stand at KD 0.267 while Kuwait International Bank rose 2.34 percent in heavy trade. Kuwait Finance House added 3 fils on the back of 5.6 million shares and National Bank of Kuwait was down 1 fil. Commercial Bank of Kuwait and Ahli United Bank closed flat in this session. Burgan Bank and Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait advanced 2 fils and 1 fil respectively. Warba Bank shed 2 fils with small trading volume to close at KD 0.247.

Boubyan Bank advanced 2 fils in heavy trade. The bank has recorded a net profit growth until the end of Q3 2017, at a growth rate of 15 percent. Net profits amounts to KD 34 million, while the earning per share amounts to 13.9 fils compared with 13 fils  for the same period of 2016

The market was evenly spread as 54 shares gained and 54 stocks closed lower. Of the 125 counters active on Sunday, 17 closed flat. A total of 5,323 deals worth KD 29.3 million were transacted, a 34.96 percent drop in value from the last session.

Kuwait Investment Co rose 6.67 percent while Kuwait Projects Co was up 1.12 percent. National Investment Co gained 1.71 percent on the back of 10 million shares and Commercial Facilities Co edged up 0.53 percent to 190 fils. Unicap Investment and Finance closed 3.53 percent higher whereas Al Salam Group Holding Co fell 6.40 percent in heavy trade.

The telecommunication sector closed in red as Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) dived 6 fils to KD 0.803 with thin trade. National Mobile Telecommunications Co (Ooredoo) shares closed flat at KD 1.170. Mobile Telecommunications Co (Zain) shares were not traded during this session following rumors last week that Omantel was in talks to acquire further stake in the company.

Sokouk Holding Co rose 3.6 percent after trading more than 5 million shares while Noor Financial Investment lost 3.03 percent and Asiya Capital shed 5 percent. Alimtiaz Investment Group fell 1.14 percent. First Takaful was up 4.55 percent with small trading volume. National Petroleum Services Co fell 16 fils while Combined Group Contracting Co was down 5 fils. GFH Financial Group added 8 fils in heavy trade.

In the real estate sector, National Real Estate Co fell 3 fils and United Real Estate Co stood pat at 99 fils. Massaleh Real Estate Co rose 1.5 fils while Mabanee Co added 3 fils and Arabrec stagnated at KD 37 fils.  Kuwait Real Estate Holding Co fell 1.6 fils while Munshaat Real Estate Co and Kuwait Remal Real Estate Co  finished 2.5 fils and 2.8 fils higher respectively. Marakez slipped 4.21 percent in smaller trading volume.

National Industries Group added 1 fil on the back of 9.7 million shares while Gulf Cable and Electrical Industries Co closed 4 fils higher. Kuwait Foundry Co jumoped 6 fils and  ACICO Industries Co followed suit with gains of 4 fils. National Industries Co plunged 12 fils and Agility lost 1 fil to close at KD 0.900 and Educational Holding Group fell 3 fils to KD 0.304.

The market was mixed during last week. The key index fell in three of the five sessions and has lost 17.62 points week-on-week. However, it has dived 9.52 points from the start of the month but gained 15.88 percent year-to-date.  Boursa Kuwait is the second largest bourse in the region.

By Iliasu Abubakari – Arab Times Staff

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