Kuwait bourse closes in red; volume surges – NBK slips 4 fils;

19/07/2017 06:02 AST

Kuwait stocks sagged on Monday partly reversing last session’s gains. The bourse fell 7.97 pts in choppy trade to 6,800.91 pts even as investors digested the first half results. The broader sentiment however remained mixed..

The KSX 15 benchmark edged 0.17 pts higher to 924.76 points while weighted index trimmed 0.17 pts to end at 405.33 points. The volume turnover meanwhile rebounded after Sunday’s uptick. 78.3 million shares changed hands — a 54.32 pct surge from Sunday.

The sectors closed mixed. Industrials outpaced the rest with 0.66 pct gain whereas technology slid 4.52 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services notched the highest market share of 48 percent while real estate trailed with 21.96 percent contribution.

In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait slipped 4 fils to 683 fils after trading 1.8 million shares and KIPCO clipped 2 fils to settle at 342 fils. Mabanee Co recouped Sunday’s losses with 3 fils rise to 759 fils and Humansoft Holding retreated 30 fils to KD 4.320.

Zain was flat at 428 fils with a volume of 1.4 million and Ooredoo was unchanged at KD 1.150 with thin trading. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) climbed 13 fils to 825 fils and Agility gained 12 fils on back of 1.3 million shares.

Gulf Bank fell 2 fils to 242 fils and Kuwait Finance House rose 3 fils to 501 fils. The bank’s profit grew 17.1 percent to KD 43.06 m in the second quarter of 2017 as compared to the same period in the year before. In the first half, the earnings of 15.2 pct to KD 81.65 million.

The market opened on a choppy note and vacillated in early trade. The price index peaked at 6,821.30 pts and retreated thereafter as selling dominated the trading floor. It hit the day’s lowest level of 6,782.72 points in the final minutes before clawing back most of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, National Cleaning Co rallied 13 pct to 52 fils and Aqar Real Estate Co climbed 12.7 percent to stand next. Masaken tumbled 13.33 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and National Industries Group topped the volume with over 8 million shares.

The market spread was nearly even. 49 stocks advanced whereas 47 closed lower. Of the 121 counters active on Monday, 25 closed flat. 3028 deals worth KD 14.8 million were transacted — a 62.4 pct surge in value from the day before.

Gulf Cable rose 2 fils to 435 fils and NICBM was up 3 fils at 180 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co added 4 fils while Metal and Recycling Co stood pat at 108 fils. Equipment Holding eased 0.1 fil to 50 fils.

Jazeera Airways advanced 4 fils to 484 fils and ALAFCO dipped 10 fils to 350 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co tripped 1 fil and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co gave up 2 fils. Educational Holding Group ticked 1 fil into green.

Shed

Automated Systems Co shed 20 fils and Kuwait National Cinema jumped 50 fils. The company’sprofits swelled 26.17% in the first quarter of 2017 to KD 3.23 mln in from KD 2.56 million in the same period last year. Net operating profit surged 61.3 pct to KD 1.3 million.

Burgan Well Drilling Co dialed up 2 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co was down 4 fils at 613 fils. AWJ Holding added 2.5 fils and OSOS slipped 3 fils to 130 fils.

Zimah Holding trimmed 0.9 fil to wind up at 52 fils while Mezzan Holding tripped 2 fils partly paring last session’s gains. Al Rai Media Group was unchanged at 52 fils.

In the banking sector, Al Ahli Bank and AlMutahed were flat at 322 fils and 405 fils respectively whereas Commercial Bank inched 1 fil higher to 325 fils.

Burgan Bank fell 1 fil to 335 fils and Kuwait International Bank was up 2 fils at 250 fils. Boubyan Bank paused at 407 fils and Warba Bank diald up 2 fils.

National Investment Co slipped 1 fil to 101 fils and International Financial Advisors edged 0.5 fil

Arab Times