Kuwait bourse edges up in volatile ‘trade’ – NBK rallies 10 fils; Zain slips

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KUWAIT CITY, Dec 19: Kuwait stocks edged higher on Monday partly recouping last session’s drop. The bourse rose 6.13 pts in volatile trade to 5,657.13 pts helped by modest gains in banking shares even as the board remained mixed.

The KSX 15 benchmark climbed 3.76 pts to 892.99 points taking the month’s gains to 47 pts while weighted index inched 1.29 points up. The volume turnover meanwhile saw modest bounce following two-day pull back. 143.45 million shares changed hands — a 6.6 percent rise from Sunday.

The sectors closed mostly in the green turf. Parallel market outpaced the rest with 0.64 percent gain whereas technology shed 0.58 pct, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services garnered the highest market share of 40.6 pct and real estate trailed with 21 pct contribution.

Among notable movers, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait rallied 10 fils on back of 4.6 million shares and Burgan Bank was up 5 fils at 305 fils. KIPCO gained 10 fils trimming the year’s losses to 70 fils and Kuwait National Cinema Co jumped 40 fils.

Zain fell 5 fils to 420 fils recouping Sunday’s fall while Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) stood pat at KD 1.120 with thin trading volume. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) fell 10 fils and Agility was unchanged at 620 fils.

Kuwait Finance House paused at 540 fils after trading 5.5 million shares and Gulf Bank of Kuwait followed suit. The bank has recorded a net profit of KD 32.80 million and earnings per share of 11 fils in the January-September period.

The market opened flat and moved sideways in early trade. The price index slipped briefly into red almost half way into the session and bounced back. It peaked at 5,660.85 points amid spurt in buying in select counters and pulled lower to plumbed the day’s lowest level of 5,643.92 points in the final minutes. It however clawed back to close with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, Amar Financing Co vaulted 7.4 pct to 58 fils and KFIC climbed 6.7 percent to stand next. Marakez slid 8.2 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Salam topped the volume with 13.5 million shares,

Mirroring the day’s uptick, the winners outnumbered the losers. 50 stocks advanced while 43 closed lower. Of the 137 counters active on Monday, 44 closed flat. 3,274 deals worth KD 14.85 million were transacted — a 88 pct surge in value from the day before.

National Industries Group, the flagship company of the Kharafi Group, eased 2 fils to 126 fils and Gulf Cable was down 5 fils at 380 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co added 6 fils while Contracting and Marine Services Co took in 2 fils .

Kuwait Portland Cement gained 10 fils whereas Metal and Recycling Co stagnated at 68 fils. ACICO Industries Co was unchanged at 270 fils and Boubyan Petrochemical Co too did not budge from its earlier close of 490 fils.

Slipped

Jazeeera Airways slipped 10 fils to KD 0.760 extending an identical fall in the last session and ALAFCO added 10 fils on back of 2.5 million shares. Combined Group Contracting Co dipped 10 fils to 600 fils.

Kuwait Food Co (Americana) rose 20 fils to KD 2.620 and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co dialed up 2 fils. PAPCO rose 5 fils to 100 fils.

Humansoft Holding gained 20 fils and Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co paused at 300 fils. The company has registered a net profit KD 1.20 mln and earnings per share of 23.46 fils in the nine-month period ending Sept 30. 2016.

Kuwait Gulf Link added 3 fils with a volume of 8.6 million shares and KGL Logistics Co inched 1 fils higher. Zimah Holding took in 1.5 fils whereas Mezzan Holding stood pat at KD 0.940.

Equipment Holding Co eased 0.5 fils to 47 fils and Al Rai Media Group gave up 2 fils to settle at 148 fils. AWJ Holding was up 3 fils at 68 fils and Jeeran Holding Co clipped 2 fils to settle at 51 fils.

In the banking sector, Al Ahli Bank and Ahli United Bank rose 5 fils each to close at 305 fils and 395 fils respectively whereas Kuwait International Bank dialed up 2 fils.

Burgan Bank was up 5 fils at 305 fils and Boubyan Bank held ground at 400 fils off slight early lows. Warba Bank stalled at 224 fils whereas Commercial Bank of Kuwait was not traded during the day.

Kuwait Investment Co added 1 fils on back of 1.3 million shares while International Financial Advisors and Securities House Co closed 0.5 fils in green. Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) fell 2 fils to 82 fils whereas KFIC was up 2.5 fils at 39.5 fils.

National Investment Co stagnated at 99 fils and Aayan Investment Co inched 1 fils higher. Bayan Investment Co and Osoul Investment Co closed flat at 33 fils and 60 fils respectively whereas Unicap eased 1.5 fils. Sokouk Holding was down 1 fils at 35 fils.

Mabanee Co and Mazaya Holding were flat at KD 0.840 and 112 fils respectively while Kuwait Real Estate Co stood pat at 61 fils after trading over 2 million shares. National Real Estate Co fell 3 fils and United Real Estate Co inched 1 fils lower.

The market has been mixed so far during the week and has added 9 pts in last two sessions. It has rallied 105 points from the start of the month and is up 0.75 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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