Kuwait bourse treads water; volume recedes – Mabanee Co soars 40 fils;

28/01/2016 05:54 AST

Kuwait stocks trod water on Tuesday following a losing streak amid sliding oil prices and bearish global backdrop. The bourse inched 1.7 pts lower to 4,936.51 points in lackluster trade even as investors toed caution.

The KSX 15 benchmark rose 0.99 pts to 7,77.89 points while weighted index was up 0.48 points at 333.11 points. The volume turnover meanwhile shrank below the 100 million mark after hitting the month’s highest earlier in the week. 87.17 million shares changed hands — a 43.55 pct dip from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly mixed. Healthcare outpaced the rest with 2.35 pct gain whereas basic materials slid 2.15 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, real estate accounted for the highest market share of 33.8 percent while banks and financial services followed with 25.4 pct and 24.8 percent contributions respectively.

In the individual shares Mabanee Co soared 40 fils to KD 0.860 while Tamdeen Investment Co was up 10 fils at KD 0.405. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) slid 60 fils to KD 1.760 and has retreated 240 fils from start of the month whereas investment conglomerate KIPCO held steady at KD 0.500 off slight early highs.

Telecom major Zain was unchanged at KD 0.325 whereas Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) climbed 20 fils to KD 1.060 trimming the month’s losses to 40 fils.

Logistics major Agility gave up 5 fils to end at KD 0.410 and Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) stood pat at KD 0.990. The company has posted a net profit of KD 42.95 million and earnings per share of 86 fils in 2015, up from KD 40.36 million net profit and earnings per share of 81 fils in the year before. The market opened weak and drifted slightly lower in early trade.

The price index troughed at 4,916.17 pts even investors remained wary of the market direction before nudging up. It moved sideways in the second half and closed almost unchanged.

Top gainers of the day, Real Estate Trade Centre Co (Marakez) and Kuwait Cable Vision spiked 9.76 pct each whereas Osoul Invtesment sank 7.35 percent, the steepest decliner of the day. Ithmar Bank topped the volume with 17.4 million shares The market spread was skewed towards the losers. 34 stocks advanced whereas 50 closed lower. Of the 116 counters active on Tuesday 32 closed flat. 2492 deals worth KD 6.7 million were transacted — a 35.5 pct drop in value from the day before.

National Industries Group, the flagship company of Kharafi Group, was unchanged at KD 0.108 and ACICO Industries Co too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.265. Boubyan Petrochemicals Co and NICBM were down 10 fils each and Gulf Cable gained 10 fils to end at KD 0.315.

Jazeera Airways stagnated at KD 0.790 off early lows and ALAFCO followed suit. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co eased 1.5 fils whereas KGL Logistics Co took in 1.5 fils to end at 48 fils.

Added
Educational Group Holding Co and Mezzan Holding added 10 fils each whereas Zima Holding stood pat at 80 fils. United Projects Group shed 10 fils whereas Gulf Petroleum Investment Co inched 0.5 fils into red.

Equipment Holding Co took in 2 fils whereas Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co slipped 6 fils extending the loss in last session. Mashaer Holding Co rose 5 fils to 100 fils whereas Boubyan International Co and City Group paused at 25 fils and 380 fils respectively.

In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait rose 10 fils to KD 0.670. The bank has logged a net profit of KD 282.16 mllion and earnings per share of 56 fils in the year ending Dec 31, 2015 as against net profit of KD 261.80 million and earnings per share of 53 fils in the year before. The Board of Directors has recommended 30 percent cash dividends and 5 pct bonus shares.

Arab Times