KSE climbs 7.22 pts in lacklustre trade – Humansoft jumps 60 fils; NBK flat

This news has been read 6688 times!

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 6: Kuwait stocks nudged higher on Tuesday extending the gains to second consecutive session. The bourse rose 7.22 pts in lacklustre trade to 5734.54 points helped by buying in select counters. Some of the banks ticked up whereas other heavyweights closed mixed.

The KSX 15 benchmark climbed 5 pts to 937.57 points taking the month’s gains to 2 points while weighted index inched 1.88 pts up. The volume turnover meanwhile was little changed during the session. 157.42 million shares changed hands — a 1.75 pct fall from Monday.

The sectors closed mixed. Basic materials outperformed the rest with over 2 pct gain whereas consumer goods shed 0.92 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, real estate accounted for the highest market share of 37.63 pct while banks and financial services followed with 22.6 percent and 20 pct contributions respectively.

Among the notable performers, Gulf Bank rose 10 fils on back of 1.34 million shares and Mabanee Co was up by same measure to end at KD 0.880. Humansoft Holding soared 60 fils to KD 1.060 recouping the loses in the last session and Boubyan Petrochemicals Co climbed 30 fils.

Telecom major Zain rose 5 fils to KD 0.400 and Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) held the ground steady at KD 1.000. Kuwait Telecom-munications Co (VIVA) gained 30 fils extending the modest rise in the last session while Agility gave up 10 fils to settle at KD 0.550.

Investment conglomerate KIPCO was flat at KD 0.580 off early lows while Bayan Investment Co inched 0.5 pts lower. The company has posted a net profit of KD 118,473 and earnings per share of 0.33 fils in the first half of 2015 as against net profit of KD 3.09 million and earnings per share of 8.56 fils in the same period of 2014.

The market opened flat and spiked briefly in early trade amid spurt in buying in select counters. The price index hit the day’s highest mark of 5,747.38 pts and retreated thereafter as sentiment flipped to negative. It plumbed the day’s lowest level of 5,721.61 points almost half way into the session and moved sideways before nudging back into the green turf at close.

Top gainer of the day, Zimah Holding Co rallied 6.9 pct to 77 fils while BPCC climbed 6 percent to stand next. Kuwait United Poultry Co slid 5.95 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Dar National Real Estate Co topped the volume with over 29 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s uptick, the winners outnumbered the losers. 44 stocks advanced whereas 34 closed lower. Of the 127 counters active on Tuesday, 49 closed flat. 3,320 deals worth KD 12.5 million were transacted — a 1.43 pct rise in value from the day before National Industries Group was flat at KD 0.142 and RISCO followed suit to wind up at KD 0.325. Kuwait Cement Co climbed 5 fils to KD 0.375 whereas Gulf Cable pulled 10 fils into red. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co closed 8 fils down.

ACICO Industries Co paused at KD 0.295 and Equipment Holding Co was up 3 fils at 65 fils. The company has incurred a net loss of KD 494,362 and loss per share 3.62 fils as compared to net profit  of KD 496,880  and earnings per share of 3.64 fils in 2014, H1.

Down

Mashaer Holding Co dialed up 2 fils whereas Al-Nawadi Holding Co closed 3 fils down .The company has posted a profit of KD 1,007,657 in the six-months period ending June 30, 2015 and profit per share of 5.54 fils as compared to a profit of KD 974,925 and EPS of 5.36 fils in the same period in 2014.

Jazeera Airways was flat at KD 0.465 and NAPESCO followed suit. ALAFCO took in 2 fils and Zima Holding added 5 fils on back of 5.3 million shares. Kuwait Portland Cement stagnated at KD 1.160 off early lows.

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co nudged 2.5 fils up whereas KGL Logistics Company closed flat. The company has posted a net profit of KD 3.49 million and earnings per share of 5.82 fils in the first half of 2015, up from net profit of KD 2.73 million and earnings per share of 5.06 fils in the same period last year.

National Investment Co clipped 2 fils and Kuwait Financial Centre was down 4 fils at KD 0.104. The company has won the approval of Capital Markets Authority to buy back or sell a maximum of 10% of its shares for 6 months from date of the approval.

KMEFIC held steady at 32 fils and Noor Financial Investment followed suit. Sokouk Holding ticked 1 fils up to end at 49 fils. Salhia Real Estate Co rose 5 fils and Mabanee Co gained 10 fils.

In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait was unchanged at KD 0.800 off early highs and Ahli United Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of 0.530. Commercial Bank was not traded during the session.

Burgan Bank and Kuwait Finance House were steady at KD 0.395 and KD 0.560 respectively and Kuwait International Bank dialed up 2 fils. Boubyan Bank gained 10 fils on back of 1.2 million shares and and Al Ahli Bank closed 5 fils in green.

The bourse has been largely positive so far during the week and has gained 14 points in last two sessions. It had slid 94 points during the whole of September and is trading 12.26 pct down year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Kuwait Real Estate Company has registered a net profit of KD 2.39 million and earnings per share of 2.64 fils in the first six-months of 2015 as against net profit of KD 3.49 million and earnings per share of 3.86 fils in the same period last year.

Gulf Cement Company has posted a net profit of KD 2.45 million and earnings per share of 0.003 fils in the first half of 2015, down from KD 3.36 million net profit and earnings per share of 0.004 fils in the same period last year.

Al Dar National Real Estate Co has incurred a net loss of KD 132,850 and loss per share of 0.32 fils in the six-month period ending June 30, 2015 as against net profit of KD 761,352 and earnings per share of 1.85 fils in the same period of 2014.

Metal and Recycling Co has incurred a net loss of KD 126,449 and losses per share of 2.48 fils in the January-June period of 2015 as compared to net profit of KD 615,409 and earnings per share of 6.76 fils in 2104, H1.

Aayan Leasing and Investment Company has clocked a net profit of KD 5.42 million and earnings per share of 6.76 fils in the six-months period ending June 30, 2015, down from net profit of KD 8.88 million and earnings per share of 11.07 fils in the H1 of 2014.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

This news has been read 6688 times!