Kuwait bourse climbs 94.52 pts; volume up – CBK gains 25 fils;

Americana tumbles

16/02/2017 05:58 AST

Kuwait stocks swung sharply higher on Tuesday extending the gains to third straight session. The bourse, after a tame start, rallied 94.52 pts to 6,751.37 points amid brisk buying led by banks and other heavyweights.

The KSX 15 benchmark climbed 11.56 pts to 963.68 points paring the month’s losses to 22 pts while weighted index rose 5.04 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile surged past the 600 million mark for the first during the month. 608.52 million shares changed hands — a 22 pct rise from Monday.

The sectors closed mostly in green turf. Financial services outshone the rest with 2.54 pct gain whereas consumer goods dipped 0.87 pct, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services mustered the highest market share of 34.8 pct while real estate stood close with 33.5 percent contribution.

Among prime movers, National Bank of Kuwait rallied 10 fils to 730 fils and Kuwait Finance House followed suit with a volume of over 10 million. Investment major KIPCO too was up 10 fils at 520 fils and is down 40 fils during the month.

Zain rose 15 fils on back of 12.6 million shares to 485 fils while Wataniya Telecom ( Ooredoo) jumped 40 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co ( VIVA) was unchanged at 870 fils and Agility rebounded 20 fils after recent losses.

Al Ahli Bank dropped 10 fils to 300 fils and Commercial Bank of Kuwait gained 25 fils. The bank’s fourth quarter earnings rose 10.8 pct to KD 22.91 million from same period last year.

The market opened on a tame note and moved sideways in early trade. The main index slipped into red almost half way into the session to trough at 6,656.62 pts and rebounded thereafter. It continued to rally amid renewed buying across the sectors before closing with strong gains.

Top gainer of the day, Wethaq Takaful rallied 9.62 pct to 57 fils and Noor Financial Investment Co climbed 9.43 percent to stand close behind. Remal slid 4.35 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Ithmaar Bank topped the volume with 49.32 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s upswing, the market spread was heavily skewed towards the winners. 95 stocks advanced whereas 21 closed lower. Of the 142 counters active on Tuesday, 26 closed flat. 11,367 deals worth over KD 60 million were transacted — a 16.9 pct jump in value from the day before.

National Industries Group, the flagship company of Kharafi Group, rose 4 fils to 148 fils whereas Gulf Cable stood pat at 550 fils off early lows. Contracting and Marine Servicing Co inched 1 fils up while Heavy Engineering and Shipbuilding Co gained 4 fils.

Kuwait Food Co (Americana) tumbled 100 fils to KD 2.520 with thin trading whereas Kuwait National Cinema Co vaulted 100 fils extending an identical surge in the previous session.

Paused

Kuwait Cement Co paused at 485 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement followed suit. Yiaco slipped 10 fils to 290 fils and ALAFCO closed flat. Metal and Recylcing Co was up 4 fils at 85 fils.

Kuwait Foundry Co climbed 15 fils to 335 fils and Shuaiba Industrial Co jumped 25 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co rose 10 fils to 590 fils and NICBM took in 2 fils before settling at 218 fils.

Al Qurain Petrochemical was unchanged at 325 fils after giving up slight early gains and Al Rai Media Group Co too did not budge from its earlier close of 178 fils. Humansoft Holding Co stood ground at KD 3.000.

Independent Petroleum Group rose 5 fils to 405 fils and Automated Systems Co was up 4 fils at 248 fils. Jeeran Holding Co eased 2 fils to 48 fils and ACICO Industries Co climbed 10 fils to 305 fils.

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co took in 2 fils on back of over 1 million shares and KGL Logistics Co closed 2 fils higher at 75 fils. Zimah Holding Co inched 1 fil into green whereas Mezzan Holding Co stood pat at 940 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank rose 2 fils to 248 fils and

Arab Times