Kuwait market swings up in choppy trading – NBK gains 10 fils;

KIPCO flat

08/12/2016 07:26 AST

Kuwait stocks swung higher on Tuesday, stemming the two-day decline. The price index climbed 18.56 pts in choppy trade to 5,564.73 points led by some of the mid and small caps even as the blue chips remained mostly muted.

The KSX 15 benchmark rose 2.58 pts t0 874.9 points taking the month’s gains to 19 points and weighted index edged 1.19 points into green. The volume turnover meanwhile rose further helped mostly by speculative buying in select counters. 182.9 million shares changed hands — a 19.4 percent rise from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in the green turf. Real estate outshone the rest with 1.36 pct gain whereas technology slid 4.4 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, real estate garnered the highest market share of 48.2 percent and financial services stood next with 29.6 pct contribution.

In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait rose 10 fils on the back of 1.3 million shares and Mabanee Co followed suit to close at 840 fils. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) stood pat at KD 2.620 off early lows and has rallied 620 fils year-to-date.

Zain was unchanged at 405 fils after trading 2.9 million shares and Wataniya Telecom ( Ooredoo) too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 1.100. Kuwait Telecommunications Co ( VIVA) paused at 900 fils and Agility followed suit to close at 570 fils.

National Investment Co took in 1 fil while KIPCO closed flat. The company has logged a net profit of KD 40,02 million and earnings per share of 24.62 fils in the January – Sept period .

The market opened flat and slipped briefly into red in early trade. The main index plumbed the day’s lowest level of 5,545.53 pts and clawed back above the opening mark amid buying in select counters. It moved sideways thereafter before revving up in the final minutes to close with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, Amwal Investment Co vaulted 14.2 pct to 20 fils and Metal and Recycling Co climbed 7.94 pct to stand next. Contracting and Marine Services Co skidded 11.6 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Sokouk Holding Co topped the volume with over 25 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s upswing, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 52 stocks advanced whereas 23 closed lower. Of the 130 counters active on Tuesday, 55 closed flat. 3,651 deals worth KD 17.21 mln were transacted — a 31 pct increase in value from the a day before.

National Industries Group was unchanged at 122 fils off slight early highs and RISCO too did not budge from its earlier close of 325 fils. Gulf Cable rose 5 fils to 375 fils while Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co took in 2 fils.

Jazeera Airways see-sawed before holding ground at 770 fils and ALAFCO gave up 4 fils to close at 220 fils. Metal and Recycling Co added 5 fils with razor thin trade and Boubyan Petrochemical Co stagnated at 465 fils.

Jumped

Kuwait Portland Cement gained 20 fils and Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co jumped 15 fils to 315 fils. Kuwait National Cinema Co climbed 10 fils to 960 fils and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co stalled at 228 fils.

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co was unchanged at 56 fils whereas KGL Logistics Co inched 1 fil up to 71 fils. Zimah Holding Co paused at 41 fils and Mezzan Holding Co too did not budge from its earlier close of 980 fils.

ACICO Industries Co and Combined Group Contracting Co paused at 270 fils and 610 fils respectively whereas Automated Systems Co shed 11 fils before settling at 244 fils.

OSOS dropped 10 fils to 134 fils whereas AWJ Holding clipped 2 fils. Equipment Holding Co dialed up 0.5 fil with volume of over 1 million whereas Al Rai Media Group was unchanged at 150 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank and Commercial Bank were flat at 234 fils and 425 fils respectively. Al Ahli Bank paused at 300 fils off slight early lows an

Arab Times