Kuwait bourse closes week on strong note – VIVA gains 10 fils; Ooredoo tumbles

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KUWAIT CITY, Oct 20: Kuwait stocks nudged higher on Thursday to wind up the week on a firm note. The bourse added 6.23 pts in volatile trade to close at 5,321.46 points even as the board showed a mixed trend. Some of the heavyweights shone while banks remained subdued.

The KSX 15 gauge rose 5.95 points to 805 pts paring the month’s losses to 9 points while weighted index inched 1.37 pts higher. The volume turnover meanwhile soared past the 100 million mark to hit a multi-month high. 113.74 million shares changed hands — a 18.9 pct rise from the day before.

The sectors diverged in a tight range. Technology outpaced the rest with 0.97 pct gain whereas oil and gas slipped 0.39 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services accounted for the highest market share of 30.4 pct while banks stood close behind with 28 pct contribution.

Among the prime movers, Zain extended its rally from last session with a 10 fils gain on back of 9.8 million shares whereas Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) sank 60 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) climbed 10 fils and Agility followed suit to end at KD 0.475.

KIPCO fell 5 fils to 495 fils after trading 3 million shares and Tamdeen Investment Co jumped 25 fils recouping the drop in the last session. Kuwait Food Co ( Americana) was unchanged at KD 2.600 and is down 80 fils during the month.

Kuwait Finance House paused at 465 fils with a volume of 4.2 million shares and National Bank of Kuwait too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.570. The bank has posted a net profit of KD 219.26 million EPS of 39 fils in the nine-month period ending September 2016.

The market opened firm and rose sharply in early trade. The main index peaked at 5,338.21 points almost an hour into the session amid brisk buying in select counters but retreated thereafter. It continued to head south and plumbed the day’s lowest level of 5,306.91 points in the final minutes before clawing back into green territory at close.

Top gainer of the day, Tamdeen Investment Co vaulted 9 pct to 300 fils while MTCC climbed 7 pct to stand next. Jeeran Holding Co slid 8.82 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and National Bank of Kuwait continued to top the volume with 11.8 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s uptick, the winners outnumbered the losers. 46 stocks advanced whereas 41 closed lower. Of the 131 counters active on Thursday, 44 closed flat. 3,128 deals worth over KD 22 million were transacted — a 113.9 pct surge in value from the day before.

National Industries Group was unchanged at 106 fils and Gulf Cable was up 5 fils at KD 0.370, Boubyan Petrochemical Co fell 5 fils to 450 fils and Heavy Engineering Industries Engineering and Shipping Co gave up 2 fils to end at 154 fils.

Jazeera Airways rose 10 fils to KD 0.840 and Mezzan Holding Co was up by same measure to settle at KD 1.000. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co inched 0.5 fil up and KGL Logistics Co was unchanged at 73 fils. Zimah Holding Co too stagnated at 41.5 fils.

Kuwait Portland Cement Co slipped 10 fils to KD 0.920 and Kuwait Cement Company stalled at 370 fils. Kuwait Foundry Co was flat at 164 fils and Kuwait National Cinema Company was up 10 fils at KD 0.960.

ACICO Industries Co gained 10 fils while Equipment Holding Co inched 0.5 fil higher to 42.5 fils. National Ranges Co (Mayadeen) stood pat at 28.5 fils and GPI inched 1 fil. Al Qurain Petroleum Industries Co took in 2 fils and Future Communications Co Global followed suit.

Humansoft Holding Co was flat at KD 1.600 and The Energy House Co closed 1 fil in red. The company has posted a first half net loss of KD 1.14 million and loss per share of 1.99 fils.

In the banking sectored Gulf Bank dialed up 2 fils on back of over 1 million shares while Al Ahli Bank held steady at 310 fils off early lows. Commercial Bank of Kuwait was not traded during the session.

Burgan Bank eased 5 fils to 315 fils and Kuwait International Bank took in 2 fils with a volume of 2.4 million. Boubyan Bank added 5 fils on back of over 3 million shares and Warba Bank gained 10 fils.

National Investment Co was unchanged at 106 fils after trading 2.3 million shares and International Financial Advisors inched 0.5 fil up. Coast Investment Co fell 5 fils to 40.5 fils and Securities House Co dialed up 2.5 fils.

KAMCO rose 4 fils to 118 fils and KFIC edged 0.5 fil higher. Ektittab Holding Co eased 1.5 fils while Al Madina Finance and Investment Co and Noor Financial Investment Co clipped 1 fil each. Bayan Investment Co closed 1.5 fils in green with a volume of over 1 million shares.

National Real Estate Co took in 2 fils on back of 1.9 million shares and Salhiya Real Estate Co climbed 5 fils to 370 fils. Mabanee Co and Al Mazaya Holding Co paused at 800 fils and 108 fils respectively.

The market was mixed during the week. The price index closed higher in two of the five sessions and has shed 7 week-on-week. It has slid 93 pts so far during the month and has retreated 5.23 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 198 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, 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 posted a net profit of KD 20.659 mln and earnings per share of 0.2 fils in the six-month period ending June 6, 2016 rebounding from a net loss of KD 95,105 and loss per share of 1.1 fil in the same period last year.

Metal and Recycling Co. clocked a net profit of KD 118,386 and earnings per share of 1.58 fils in the six-month period ending June 31,2016 rebounding from net loss of KD 185,711 and losses per share of 2.48 fils in same period last year.

Gulf Glass Manufacturing Company has registered a net profit of KD 941,711 and earnings per share of 18.35 fils in the six-month period ending June 30 as against a net profit of KD 1.39 million and earnings per share of 27.09 fils in the same period last year.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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