Kuwait bourse ‘climbs’ 30.66 pts; volume rises – Humansoft Holding extends rally; Zain slips

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KUWAIT CITY, Dec 27 : Kuwait stocks notched impressive gains on Tuesday as it extended its winning spree to seventh straight session. The price index rallied 30.66 pts to 5,745.04 points paced mostly by buying in some of the mid-caps even as most of the blue chips remained muted.

The KSX 15 benchmark rose 2 pts to 893.61 points taking the year’s gains to 9 points while weighted index inched 0.92 pts up. The volume turnover meanwhile surged past the 200 million mark to hit a 9-day high. 206.6 mln shares changed hands — a 26 pct jump from Monday.

The sectors closed mostly in the green territory. Insurance outshone the rest with 1.14 pct gain whereas consumer services slipped 0.48 percent, the weakest performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services accounted for the highest market share of 37.7 pct while real estate stood next with 23.49 percent.

Among the prime movers, Humansoft Holding spiked 100 fils to KD 2.500 extending its strong rally and Ahleia Insurance Co climbed 25 fils. Tamdeen Real Estate Co was up 10 fils at 475 fils adding to Monday’s gains.

Zain fell 5 fils to 410 fils after trading 2.8 million shares and Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) stood pat at KD 1.120 with razor thin trading. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) was unchanged at KD 0.930 and Agility too did not budge from the previous close of 630 fils.

Sector bellwether National bank of Kuwait scaled 10 fils and Boubyan Bank gave up 5 fils to settle at 395 fils. 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 on a tame note and fell briefly into red in early trading. It troughed at 5,708.14 points before heading north as sentiment firmed up. It continued to rise and hit the day’s highest level of 5,748.03 points in the final minutes before paring back slightly at close.

Top gainer of the day, Amwal rallied 11.3 percent to 24.5 fils while First Dubai climbed 8.2 percent to stand next. Marakez slid 8.4 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Imtiaz Investment Co topped the volume with 23.6 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s upswing, the market spread was skewed towards the winners. 58 stocks advanced whereas 33 closed lower. Of the 143 counters active on Tuesday, 52 closed flat. 4,514 deals worth KD 19.47 mln were transacted — a 17.25 pct jump in value from the day before.

National Industries Group, the flagship company of the Kharafi Group, fell 2 fils to 122 fils after trading 3.5 million shares while Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co took in 2 fils to wind up at 172 fils. Gulf Cable was flat at 380 fils.

Kuwait Cement Co slid 25 fils to 395 fils while Boubyan Petrochemical Co jumped 15 fils. Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co paused at 305 fils off slight early lows and ACICO Industries followed suit. NICBM was up 4 fils at 210 fils.

Added

Jazeera Airways was unchanged at 770 fils and ALAFCO added 8 fils before closing at 242 fils. Automated Systems Co clipped 2 fils while Kuwait Cinema Co and Combined Group Company shed 20 fils each.

Equipment Holding Co and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co were flat at 59 fils and 232 fils respectively whereas Kuwait Portland Cement Co stagnated at 910 fils. IFA Hotels and Resorts rose 10 fils and Alrai Media Group Co gave up 4 fils.

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co climbed 4 fils to 68 fils and KGL Logistics Co dialed up1 fils. Zimah Holding Co eased 1 fil to 42 fils and Mezzan Holding Co gained 10 fils. AWJ Holding inched 1 fil up to 65 fils. NAPESCO gained 10 fils and RISCO stalled at 315 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank was unchanged at 240 fils and Ahli United Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of 405 fils. Commercial Bank of Kuwait and Al Ahli Bank were not traded during the session.

Kuwait Finance House was flat at 550 fils off slight early highs and Burgan Bank followed suit. Kuwait International Bank took in 2 fils and Warba Bank added 4 fils on back of over 5 million shares.

Investment major KIPCO and International Financial Advisers were unchanged at 510 fils and 31 fils respectively whereas National Investment Co took in 1 fil after trading 1.4 mln shares. Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) paused at 83 fils.

KAMCO gave most of the Tuesday’s gains with 3 fils drop while Unicap and Al Deera Holding dialed up 0.5 fil each. Al Mal Investment Co was flat at 20 fils and Ektittab Holding followed suit. Securities House Co fell 1 fil and Securities Group Co was up 4 fils at 89 fils.

Osoul Investment Co and Al Salam dialed down 1 file each while Noor Financial Investment Co stood pat at 46 fils. KFIC took in 2 fils and Kuwait Investment Co inched 1 fil into green.

Kuwait Real Estate Co rose 1 fil whereas United Real Estate Co and Mabanee Co stood pat at 94 fils and KD 0.840 respectively. Salhiya Real Estate gave up 5 fils and Mazaya Holding closed flat. National Real Estate Co took in 2 fils.

The market has been buoyant so far during the week and has rallied 68 pts in last three sessions. It has gained 190 points from the start of the month and is up 2.31 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 208 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Shuaiba Industrial Co has recorded a net profit of KD 1.66 million and earnings per share of 20.94 fils in 2016, 9M up from net profit of KD 1.33 mln and earnings per share of 16.83 fils in same period of 2015.

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.

Hilal Cement Company has logged a net loss of KD 3,709 and loss per share of 0.04 fils in the January-September period of 2016 narrowing from a net loss of KD 117,151 and LPS of 1.39 fils in same period in 2015.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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