KUWAIT CITY, Feb 15: Kuwait stocks crept higher on Monday after treading water in the previous session. The All Shares Index ticked 2.25 points higher in a choppy session to 5698.95 points helped by some of the blue chips even as the broader sentiment remained soggy. The Premier Market rose 4.60 points to 6,214.08 pts paring the month’s losses to 93 points while Main Market gave up 3.21 points. The BK Main 50 was little changed at 4,859.54 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile was a marginal fall following Sunday’s uptick. Over 362 million shares changed hands – down 1 pct from the day before.

The sectors closed mixed. Technology outshone the rest with 13.2 pct gain whereas Oil and Gas shed 0.66 percent, the worst performer of the day. Financial Services topped in both volume and value with over 201 million shares traded for KD 15.4 million. Among the notable movers, Mabanee Co extended last session’s gains with 6 fils jump to 675 fils while National Investment Co scaled 9 fils on back of over 5 million shares to close at 172 fils. Humansoft Holding sprinted 50 fils to 465 fils whereas YIACO Medical shed 30 fils. Tamdeen Investment Co was down 8 fils at 235 fils. Telecom major Zain slipped 4 fils to 625 fils while Ooredoo gave up 5 fils before settling at 665 fils. stc dialed down 2 fils and Agility surrendered 6 fils after trading 1.8 million shares. Boursa Kuwait Securities was down 5 fils at KD 1.155.

Slipped
The market opened firm and slipped briefl y before heading north in early trade. The main index pivoted sharply to plumb the day’s lowest level of 5689 points and vacillated in a broad range before peaking at 5703 points well past the mid-session. It gave up most of the gains in final minutes to close with slight uptick. Top gainer of the day, Automated Systems Co galloped 13.26 pct to 100.8 fils while Fujairah Cement scaled 9.9 percent to stand next. Thuraya skidded 9.35 percent, the steepest decliner of the day while Arzan topped the volume with 42.2 million shares. Despite the day’s uptick, the losers outnumbered the winners. 70 stocks advanced whereas 48 closed lower. Of the 135 counters active on Monday, 17 closed fl at. 12,494 deals worth KD 44.6 million were transacted during the session. In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait inched 1 fil higher to 839 fils whereas Kuwait International was down 5 fils at 201fils after pushing 8.4 million shares. Burgan Bank dialed up 2 fils on back of 11.9 million shares whereas Boubyan Bank took in 1 fil. Kuwait Finance House fell 2 fils to 718 fils whereas Ahli United Bank BSC and Warba Bank clipped 1 fils each to close at 228 fils and 232 fils respectively. AUB saw 2.7 million shares change hands. Commercial Bank was down 5 fils at 500 fils while Al Ahli Bank paused at 203 fils. KIPCO dialed down 2 fils and National Investment Co followed suit after moving 2.3 million shares. Al Imtiaz Investment Co took in 1 fil on back of 6.3 million shares whereas KAMCO eased 0.1 fil. The Securities House and Bayan Investment Co were unchanged at 45.6 fils and 40 fils respectively.

Climbed
KMEFIC climbed 6 fils to 84.9 fils whereas Aayan Leasing ticked 1 fil into red. KFIC gave up 4.4 fils and International Financial Advisors took in 1 fil on back of 25.8 million shares. Kuwait Financial Centre ( Markaz) trimmed 0.1 fil and Noor Financial Investment gave up 2 fils. Al Madina For Finance edged 0.7 fils up. Gulf Insurance Co skidded 29 fils to 660 fils and Warba Insurance fell 2 fils to 102 fils. Tamdeen Real Estate erased 4 fils before settling at 245 fils and Ajial Real Estate shed 6 fils. Kuwait Real Estate Co crept 1 fils higher to 126 fils. National Industries Group fell 2 fils to 195 fils with a volume of 1.7 million whereas Gulf Cable closed 1 fil in red. Boubyan Petrochemical Co paced 12 fils while Al Qurain Petrochemical Co rose 5 fils to 352 fils. Mezzan Holding gained 6 fils and Integrated Holding sprinted 15 fils to 433 fils. Aznour paused at 268 fils. Kuwait Cement Co and Kuwait Foundry were fl at at 225 fils and 291 fils respectively whereas Kuwait Portland Cement shed 14 fils. HEISC scaled 9 fils and ACICO Industries took in 0.4 fils. Metal and Recylcing Co stalled at 102 fils and Kuwait Gulf Links Transport Co added 1.2 fils. Jazeera Airways rose 5 fils to 634 fils and United Projects Co gave up 3 fils with thin trading. ALAFCO tripped 1 fil whereas KCPC was up 3 fils at 442 fils. Independent Petroleum Group erased 5 fils and Educational Holding Co was up 7 fils at 335 fils. Burgan Company For Well Drilling slipped 4 fils to 500 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co eased 1 fil. PAPCO and Mashaer Holding ticked 0.5 fil into red whereas OSOS was up 3.4 fils at 67 fils. The market has been muted so far during the week, adding 3 points in last two sessions. It has shed 82 points so far during the month and is up 152 points year-to-date.

By John Mathews Arab Times Staff