KSE extends winning spree; volume shrinks – NBK rallies 20 fils; Americana dips

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KUWAIT CITY, Oct 26: Kuwait stocks extended its winning spree with a modest upswing. The bourse climbed 14.69 pts in volatile trade to 5,403.7 points as buying continued in select counters led by banks and telecom shares.

The KSX 15 measure jumped 14 pts to 845.4 points taking the month’s gains to 31 pts while weighted index climbed 4.13 points. The volume turnover meanwhile saw a moderate pull back following the steep surge in the day before. 167.9 million shares changed hands — a 5.6 pct drop from Tuesday.

The sectors closed mostly in green turf. Telecommunications outshone the rest with 3 pct gain whereas basic materials slipped 0.67 percent, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, financial services mustered the highest market share of 27.6 pct while banks stood next with 24.7 percent contribution.

Among the prime movers, National Bank of Kuwait extended Tuesday’s gain with an identical jump of 20 fils on back of 5.24 million shares and Kuwait Finance House was up 5 fils extending the advance from the previous session. Mabanee Co rose 10 fils and has added 30 fils during the month.

Zain rallied 10 fils on back of 2.5 million shares while Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) soared 40 fils to KD 1.100. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) climbed 30 fils to KD 0.860 and logistics major Agility added 5 fils to settle at 420 fils.

Ahli United Bank gained 10 fils and Boubyan Bank was up 5 fils on back of 3.1 million shares. The bank has recorded a net profit of KD 29.62 million and earnings per share of 13.68 fils in the nine-month period ending Sept 30, 2016.

The market opened flat and headed sharply higher in early trade. The price index scaled the day’s highest level of 5,405.15 pts amid brisk buying in select counters but failed hold on to the gains. It retreated before pulling higher again past the mid-session and closed with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, FutureKid vaulted 8.16 pct to 106 fils and FTI jumped 6.33 percent to stand next. Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co slid 7.14 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Zain topped the volume with over 25 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s upswing, the winners outnumbered the losers. 51 stocks advanced whereas 41 closed lower. Of the 125 counters active on Wednesday, 33 closed flat. 4183 deals worth KD 33.92 million were transacted — a 9.4 pct rise in value from the day before.

National Industries Group see-sawed in tight range before closing unchanged at 114 fils while Kuwait Foundry Co gave up 4 fils to settle at 168 fils. Kuwait Cement Co was up 5 fils at 375 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement gained 20 fils.

Jazeera Airways rose 20 fils to KD 0.860 taking the month’s gains to 30 fils while ALAFCO clipped 2 fils. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) however was down 20 fils at KD 2.600 and has rallied 600 fils year-to-date. Al Qurain Petrochemical Co eased 2 fils to 204 fils.

Metal and Recylcing Co stood pat at 66 fils and RISCO climbed 15 fils. The company has posted a net profit of KD 4.64 m and earnings per share of 47.37 fils in the nine-month period ending Sept 30, 2016 as against a net profit of KD 3.22 mln and EPS of 32.39 fils in the same period of 2015.

UPAC added 10 fils whereas Alrai Media Group Co ended 4 fils in red. The company has logged nine- month net profit of KD 2.94 million and earnings per share of 12.701 fils as compared to net profit of KD 4.72 million and EPS of 20.386 fils in the year before period.

Gulf Cable dropped 15 fils to 390 fils whereas Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co dialed up 2 fils to close at 158 fils. Equipment Holding Co nudged 2.5 fils higher to 44.5 fils and Kuwait.

National Cinema Co slipped 10 fils to 940 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co inched 0.5 fil into green and KGL Logistics Co dialed up 2 fils. Mezzan Holding swung 20 fils higher and Zimah Holding took in 1 fil with a whopping volume of 13 million shares. Soor gave up 4 fils to end at 108 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank rose 4 fils on back of 3.4 million shares and Al Ahli Bank was up 5 fils at 320 fils. Kuwait International Bank clipped 2 fils after trading 4.2 million shares. Burgan Bank paused at 325 fils and Warba Bank dipped 6 fils to 208 fils.

Kuwait Investment Co dialed up 2 fils and National Investment Co followed suit with a volume of over 9 million. International Financial Advisors stalled at 30 fils and KIPCO too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.500.

KMEFIC and Coast Investment Co added 0.5 fil each whereas Osoul Investment Co stood pat at 40.5 fils. Bayan Investment Co fell 0.5 fil and Al Mal Investment Co followed suit. Securities House Co and Al Deera Holding stagnated at 39.5 fils and 34.5 fils respectively.

KAMCO rose 4 fils to 120 fils and Ektittab Holding edged 1.5 fils into red. Noor Financial Investment Co and Al Madina eased 1 fil each whereas Amwal was unchanged at 20 fils.

Kuwait Real Estate Co inched 1 fil into green whereas National Real Estate Co gave up 1 fils to close at 81 fils after trading 2.3 million shares. Mazaya Holding climbed 6 fils with a volume of 2.4 millionshares and Argan Real Estate shed 4 fils.

The market has been upbeat so far during the week and has rallied 82 points in last four sessions. It has added 5 points so far during the month but is down 3.77 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 198 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Aqar Real Estate Investments Co has registered a net profit of KD 923,223 and earnings per share of 4.34 fils in the January-September period down from net profit of KD 1.72 million and EPS of 7.63 fils in the 9M of 2015 Jeeran Holding Co has logged a net profit of KD 431,750 and earnings per share of 3.17 fils in the first nine-month of 2016 up sharply from net profit of KD 177,518 and earnings per share of 1.30 fils in the 9M of 2015.

Kuwait Building Materials Mfg has registered a net profit of KD 159,204 and earnings per share of 5.3 fils in the January-September period as against net profit of KD 363,059 and earnings per share of 12 fils in the same period last year

Ajwan Gulf Real Estate Co has incurred a net loss of KD 71,423 and loss per share of 0.97 fils in the first nine months of 2016 as compared to net profit of KD 44,278 and earnings per share of 0.60 fils in the 2015, 9M.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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