(MENAFN- Arab Times) KUWAIT CITY, June 21: Kuwait stocks pulled lower on Wednesday as it extended the losses to third consecutive session. The main index dropped 18.37 pts in volatile trade weighed by banks and other blue chips even as oil drop roiled the sentiment.
The KSX 15 benchmark slipped 11.35 points to 918.92 points trimming the month's gains to 3 points while weighted index was down 4.29 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile was little changed. 45.3 million shares changed hands — a 3.4 percent fall from the day before.
The sectors closed mostly in the red. Healthcare outshone the rest with 11 pct gain whereas consumer services shed 3.7 percent, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise, financial services clocked the highest market share of 36.9 percent and banks followed with 28.7 pct contribution.
Among the notable losers, National Bank of Kuwait dipped 7 fils to 700 fils paring the month's gains to 20 fils while Kuwait Finance House was down 19 fils after trading 6.4 million shares. Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) gave up 4 fils to settle at 106 fils.
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Zain dropped 12 fils to 427 fils with a volume of over 2 million and Ooredoo slumped 50 fils to KD 1.100 . Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) slipped 9 fils to 830 fils and Agility reversed most of Tuesday's gains with 12 fils fall.
Commercial Bank bucked the broader trend to climb 8 fils whereas AlMutahed trimmed 4 fils. The bank's first quarter profit rose 2.6% to KD 16.003 million as against KD 15.59 million in for Q1 of 2016. The operating stood at KD 19.67 million.
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The market opened slightly weak and fell sharply in early trade. The main index rebounded thereafter to choppy trade to peak at 6,784.57 pts and headed south again. It plumbed the day's lowest level of 6,725 points past the mid-session before clawing back some of the losses at close.
Top gainer of the day, Mowasat Healthcare Co soared 19.84 pct to 453 fils and UPAC vaulted 19.48 percent to stand close behind. Kuwait Cable Vision Co slid 11.76 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Kuwait Finance House topped the volume with 6.4 million shares.
Mirroring the day's drop, the losers vastly outnumbered the winners. 23 stocks advanced whereas 65 closed lower. Of the 109 counters active on Wednesday, 21 closed flat. 2,056 deals worth KD 12.4 million were transacted — up 0.58 pct in value from the day before.
National Industries Group fell 4 fils to 112 fils while Metal and Recycling Co and Kuwait Foundry Co eased 1 fil each. Boubyan Petrochemical Co rose 4 fils to 583 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical clipped 1 fil.
Jazeera Airways trimmed 1 fil to settle at 467 fils and ALAFCO gave up 4 fils to close at 310 fils. Burgan Well Drilling Co took in 1 fil and Educational Holding Group stood pat at 360 fils, Kuwait Cable Vision Co gave up 4 fils at 30 fils.
Humansoft Holding was flat at KD 4.100 off early highs and (Napesco) tumbled 59 fils. The company's first quarter profit surged 62.7% year-on-year to KD 2.31 million as to compared to KD 1.42 million in same period last year.
Climbed
IFA Hotels and Resorts climbed 18 fils to 210 fils and Jeeran Holding paused at 48 fils. Zimah Holding fell 3 fils to 49.5 fils and Mezzan Holding shed 5 fils to wind up at 940 fils.
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank fell 3 fils to 244 fils and Al Ahli Bank retreated 3 fils to 335 fils. Kuwait International Bank inched 1 fil into red extending Tuesday's downtick.
Burgan Bank was unchanged at 325 fils off slight early lows and Boubyan Bank clipped 1 fil. Warba Bank was down 2 fils at 257 fils.
Kuwait Investment Co eased 0.5 fils to 96 fils National Investment Co gave up 1 fil after trading 1.5 million shares. KIPCO added 2 fils and Coast Investment Co closed 0.3 fil in red. International Financial Advisors inched 0.6 fil to green.
Bayan Investment Co fell 1.9 fils and KFIC added 2.5 fils. The company's posted a net profit of KD 146,350 in the first three months of 2017, from KD 255,510 loss in first quarter of 2016. Alola was unchanged at 49 fils.
Tamdeen Investment Co and Amwal Investment Co were unchanged at 300 fils and 47.5 fils respectively whereas Sokouk Holding erased 0.8 fil to close at 47.5 fils. Al Deera Holding took in 2 fils to close at 32 fils.
Al Aman Investment Co dialed up 2 fils and Al Imtiaz Investment Co gave up 1 fil. Al Madina Investment Co edged 1 fil up and Warba Insurance Co climbed 3.8 fils to 99.8 fils.
National Real Estate Co slipped 4 fils to 110 fils whereas United Real Estate Co and Mazaya Holding held ground at 84.5 fils and 112 fils respectively. Mabanee Co trimmed 1 fil and Kuwait Real Estate Co gave up 0.2 fil.
The market has been largely downbeat so far during the week and has dipped 44 points in last four sessions. It has slipped 9 points from start of the month and is trading 17.69 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, Kuwait Finance and Investment (KFIC) rebounded to post a net profit of KD 146,350 in the first three months of 2017, from KD 255,510 loss in first quarter of 2016. Operating income grew 76% year-on-year to reach KD 1.65 million.
Aayan Real Estate has recorded a 164.7 percent jump in its profits to KD 536,890 for the first quarter of 2017 from same period in the year before. During 2016, the profit saw a 1.5% uptick to KD 2.75 million in 2016 from the previous year.
Ooredoo Kuwait has posted 26.6 pct jump in profits during the first quarter of 2017 to KD 12.93 million from KD 10.21 million in same period last year. It had recorded a growth of 75% in profits to KD 46.67 million during 2016.
Mowasat Healthcare has registered a a 40.2% increase in net profits in the first quarter of 2017, to reach KD 1.92 million as compared to KD 1.37 million in the year before period.
Al Ahleia Insurance's first quarter net profit dropped by 14.5% in the first to KD 2.88 million from KD 3.37 million in Q1 of 2016. Operational income dipped 39.6 pct to KD 1.58 million.
National Ranges Company's (Mayadeen) losses shrank by 18.2 pct in the first quarter of 2017 to KD 642,620 from about KD 785,610 in same period of 2016.
By John Mathews
Arab Times Staff
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