KUWAIT CITY, July 7: Kuwait stocks post robust gains on Wednesday as buying revved up across the board. The index surged 94 points in volatile trade led by select blue chips. The market was also buoyed by speculative buying in some of the industrials. The trading floor sentiment was markedly positive even as investors await the earnings.
The benchmark winded up at 6448.70 points trimming higher gains earlier in the session while the weighted index jumped 9.31 points to settle at 396.2 points. The volume surged 31.9 percent to 409 million after wallowing below the 200 million mark in the past weeks.
Among the notable performers, Kuwait Finance House rallied 40 fils to KD 0.970 after falling in the previous session. The counter saw 8.29 million shares change hands. The lender had eased 1 percent in June and is trading 40 fils lower year-to-date.
Agility rose 25 fils on back of 4.07 million shares and closed at KD 1.140. The logistics major has posted a 52.5 percent fall in first quarter net profit. It stood at KD 17.6 million — less than half of the KD 37 million earned in the same period last year. Wataniya Telecom was up 20 fils at KD 1.760.
Zain climbed 40 fils adding to the modest gains in the earlier session. It winded up at KD 1.140 and posted a volume of 9.1 million shares. The Credit Suisse has raised its rating for Zain by two notches to “outperform”, citing the company’s Middle Eastern assets and the potential for substantially lower group overheads following its $9 billion African asset sale. The stock had notched some gains in last week on media reports that company is in talks to sell a significant stake to Etisalat.
The market opened strong and rose sharply in early trade as investors piled into stocks across the sectors on value buying after recent decline. The index slipped briefly but picked up momentum on renewed buying and peaked at 6469.1 points. It however failed to hold on to the gains and retreated thereafter on a bout of profit taking. It moved almost flat in the final hour and closed with strong gains.
The top gainer of the day, Investors Holding Co rallied 10 percent to end at KD 0.022 while Jazeera Airways climbed 9.25 percent to stand next. Kuwait Cable Vision Company slid 10.9 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, while Investors Holding Co also topped the volume with 73.6 million shares changing hands.
Gainers
The market spread was skewed heavily towards the gainers. 92 stocks advanced while 18 closed lower. Of the 127 counters active on Wednesday, 81 closed flat. 6506 deals worth KD 63.47 million were transacted — a whopping 78 percent surge in value over previous session.
Most sectors saw robust to moderate gains barring non-Kuwaiti. Banking sector soared 3.4 percent, the top performer of the day, while investment rose 2.2 percent. Insurance was up 1 percent and real estate edged 0.8 percent higher. Industrials gained 1.4 percent and so did service sector. Food climbed 1.8 percent and non-Kuwait was the only decliner which ended 1.4 percent lower.
The bourse shed 38 points since Sunday’s opening and has declined a whopping 95 points since the start of the month. It is trading 6 percent lower since the start of the year
KSE had dropped 2.34 percent month-on-month in June extending the decline to third consecutive month. The capitalization amounted to $104.55 billion accounting for 16.86 percent of the GCC market. The top three performers in June were United Gulf Bank, Arkan Al Kuwait Real Estate Co and Commercial Bank of Kuwait which rallying 39.22 percent, 32 percent and 25.68 percent respectively.
The banking stocks outshone its peers. Gulf Bank rose 20 fils to end at KD 0.420 after posting 6.97 million volume turnover while Commercial Bank was up 10 fils at KD 0.920 . The stock had surged 25.68 percent in June and is has eased 10 fils since the start of the year. Sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait was muted. It closed steady at KD 1.140 after vacillating in a 20 fils range and the counter saw 5.37 million shares change hands. Al Ahli Bank jumped 30 fils adding to the modest rise on Tuesday while Ahli United rose 15 fils to settle at KD 0.510. Burgan Bank was up 15 fils at KD 0.340 on back of 9.37 million shares and Boubyan sustained its gaining steak adding 20 fils. It close at KD 0.480.
Rose
Investment stocks too headed mostly in the green. International Financial Advisors rose 3 fils to close at KD 0.053 while National Investment Co gained 10 fils to settle at KD 0.300. KIPCO rose 15 fils on back of 2.51 million shares whereas Global Investment House held the ground unchanged at KD 0.049 after trading 9.16 million shares.
KAMCO however slipped 10 fils to end at KD 0.355. The company has announced that it has sold its entire 23.63 percent stake in United Healthcare Company for a total of KD 21.3 million without making any profit. Al Safat Investment too fell 4 fils whereas Noor Financial Investment Co edged 2 fils up.
In the real estate, National Real Estate Co rose 10 fils and Tamdeen Real Estate climbed 15 fils to wind up ay KD 0.285. Mabanee Company gained 20 fils. Industrial major National Industries Group was up 10 fils at KD 0.242 and Kuwait Pipes followed suit. Kuwait Cement Co added 20 fils while Kuwait Portland Cement posted a robust 80 fils gain to close at KD 1.220.
In the bourse related news, Burgan Company for Well Drilling, Trading & Maintenance has announced its financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2010. The company has posted a profit of KD 2,874,265 and earnings per share of 13.72 fils compared to a profit of KD 6,860,647 and earnings per share of 35.03 in the year before. The Board has also recommended to retain earnings for the same year.
National Slaughter House Company announced its financial statements for the periods ended June 30, 2010 . In the three-month period it earned a net profit of KD 47,697 and earnings per share of 1.65 fils as compared to KD 22,782 and EPS of 0.79 for the same period in 2009. In the six-month period it posted a profit of KD 84,968 and earnings per share of 2.94 fils.
Al Maal Investment Co has obtained approval of Central Bank of Kuwait to repurchase or sell 10 percent of issued shares over the period of 6 months commencing July 17, 2010.
International Financial Advisors (IFA) announced that it is acquiring 2.5 mill shares of Kuwaiti Clearing Co from Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait. The shares represent 556.5 percent of capital and has a total value of KD 10 mill at KD 4/share. Deal will be reflected in the IFA’s financial statement of period ending June 30, 2010.