Mabanee Co skids 14 fils, Humansoft Holding gains

KUWAIT CITY, Feb 2: Kuwait stocks swung lower on Sunday as it kicked off the month on a glum note. The All Shares Index dipped 38.47 points in volatile trade to 6,286.52 pts dragged by some of the heavyweights and midcaps.

The Premier Market skidded 31.53 points to 7,001.95 pts after climbing 63 points during whole of January while Main Market shed 53.63 points. The volume turnover meanwhile fell sharply for second consecutive session. Over 203 million shares changed hands – a 33 pct dip from Thursday.

The sectors closed mostly in red. Consumer Services outshone the rest with 0.44 percent whereas Insurance dropped 1.41 pct, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, Financial Services topped the volume with 76.9 million shares while in value, Banking sector was ahead with KD 15.8 million. Among the notable losers, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait fell 5 fils to KD 1.045 after pushing 5.7 million shares while Commercial Bank dived 32 fils to 523 fils. Mabanee Co skidded 14 fils to 900 fils after adding a modest 9 fils during whole of last month.

Zain was unchanged at 576 fils after trading 2.4 million shares and Ooredoo shed 14 fil before settling at 766 fils. STC was unchanged at 783 fils and Agility dived 15 fils to 835 fils with a volume of 2.2 million shares,. Humansoft Holding jumped 22 fils to KD 3.140. The market opened strong and fell sharply in early trade. The main index plumbed the day’s lowest level of 6,275 pts and pulled higher amid spurt in buying in select counters to peak at 6,309 points almost an hour into the session. It slipped again into red and drifted listlessly before winding up with moderate losses. Top gainer of the day, Marakez rallied 12.7 pct to 31 fils and REAN climbed 9.9 percent to stand next.

Amar tumbled 17 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and AAN topped the volume with over 18 million shares. Refl ecting the day’s drop, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 38 stocks advanced whereas 69 closed lower. Of the 130 counters active on Sunday, 23 closed fl at. 8,996 deals worth KD 30.3 million were transacted during the session. National Industries Group fell 2 fils to 242 fils after trading 3.9 million shares while Mezzan Holding was unchanged at 485 fils.

Al Qurain Petrochemical Co gave up 4 fils to close at 304 fils and Boubyan Petrochemical Co was down 6 fils at 673 fils. Jazeera Airways sprinted 15 fils to KD 1.050 after shedding 64 fils during whole of January while ALAFCO gave up 3 fils to close at 244 fils. Gulf Petroleum and IFA Hotels and Resorts tripped 0.2 fil each while Advanced Technology Co stood pat at 750 fils. SPEC ticked 0.3 fil higher to 82.1 fils.

Kuwait Cement Co dipped 8 fils to 235 fils whereas Kuwait Portland Cement climbed 10 fils to 980 fils with thin trading. Gulf Cement Co tripped 0.5 fils to 47.5 fils and Fujairah Cement Co eased 1 fil to 50 fils. ACICO clipped 1 fil and AGHC rallied 18 fils to 229 fils. Kuwait Foundry Co dropped 8 fils to 315 fils and Gulf Cable gave up 5 fils before closing at 492 fils.

Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co took in 1 fil and Kuwait National Cinema Co was unchanged at KD 1.000. Safat Energy trimmed 0.8 fil and Salbookh added 3 fils on back of over 3 million shares. Combined Group Contracting Co slipped 4 fils to 250 fils and OSOS sprinted 7 fils to 109 fils with thin trading. KCPC fell 3 fils to 259 fils and KPPC inched 1 fil into red. AAN took in 0.6 fil with brisk trading while Mashaer Holding eased 0.1 fil to 77 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co fell 1.2 fils to 60.9 fils and KGL Logistics inched 0.1 fil into red. Equipment Holding Co eased 0.1 fil to 19.1 fils while NICBM and Warbacap held ground at 160 fils and 60.5 fils respectively.

Burgan Well Drilling Co rose 4.5 fils to 75 fils. In the banking sector, Gulf Bank fell 2 fils to 310 fils after trading 1.2 million shares and Kuwait International Bank tripped 1 fil. Burgan Bank stood pat at 305 fils with a volume of 2.2 million and Boubyan Bank dialed up 2 fils to close at 649 fils. Kuwait Finance House was down 3 fils at 834 fils with a volume of over 7 million and Al Ahli Bank gave up 2 fils. Warba Bank paused at 279 fils and Ahli United Bank dialed down 2 fils after pushing 6.5 million shares at the counter. Al Mutahed tripped 1 fil. KIPCO was unchanged at 210 fils and Gulf Finance House eased 0.1 fil to 67.9 fils. Kuwait Investment Co and FACIL clipped 1 fil each whereas International Financial Advisors stood pat at 57 fils.

Coast Investment Co trimmed 0.7 fil after trading 5.3 million shares. Kuwait Finance Centre (Markaz) fell 2 fils to 111 fils after trading over 1 million shares and Arzan paused at 40.1 fils with brisk trading. Securities House Co added 1.8 fils on back of over 7 million shares and ALOLA trimmed 05 fils. Al Aman added 1.4 fils and Aayan took in 0.8 fil on back of over 10 million shares. KAMCO slipped 4.1 fils to 92 fils and KMEFIC inched 0.4 fil higher to 85.4 fils.

Al Mal eased 0.3 fil to 8.7fils and Bayan Investment gave up 3.9 fils. KFIC dialed up 1.7 fils whereas Al Deera Holding and GNAHC paused at 20 fils and 61.1 fils respectively. Noor Financial Centre fell 5 fils to 174 fils after rallying 60 fils during previous month while NIH ticked 1 fil into green. Madar rose 2.2 fils to 90.2 fils and Al Deera Holding stood pat at 20 fils. Sokouk Holding dialed up 1 fil on back of 4.5 million shares while Al Imtiaz clipped 1 fil after trading 3.7 million shares. Kuwait Insurance Co gained 4 fils and Warba Insurance Co closed fl at at 62 fils. First Takaful Insurance took in 1 fil.

Kuwait Real Estate ticked 1 fil up to 103 fils and Kuwait Real Estate followed suit. National Real Estate eased 0.2 fil and Tamdeen Real Estate dialed up 2 fils. AREEC dipped 9 fils to 180 fils. The market was mixed during last week. The main index closed higher in two of the five sessions gaining 45 pts week-on-week. It had climbed 42 points during whole of January after rallying 1,203 points last year.

By John Mathews Arab Times Staff