Kuwait bourse inches lower; volume swells – KFH falls 5 fils; NIG ticks up

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KUWAIT CITY, Aug 21: Kuwait stocks edged lower on Sunday after posting moderate losses in the previous week. The bourse eased 4.11 pts in lackluster trading to 5,467.77 pts with amid mixed board. The banks were mostly muted.

KSX 15 benchmark slipped 2.92 pts to 813.29 points trimming the month’s losses to 3 points while weighted index inched 0.72 pts down. The volume turnover meanwhile saw modest rise after receding in the previous session. 51.4 million shares changed hands — a 8.3 pct increase from Thursday.

The sectors closed mostly in red. Healthcare outshone the rest with 0.80 pct gain whereas oil and gas shed 2.45 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services mustered the highest market share of 52.93 pct while telecommunication trailed far behind with 20.3 pct contribution.

In the individual shares, Kuwait Finance House fell 5 fils to KD 0.465 and Tamdeen Investment Co shed 15 fils with thin volume. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) was unchanged at KD 2.460 and NAPESCO tumbled 50 fils to KD 0.690.

Zain fell 5 fils to KD 0.330 whereas Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) gave up early gains to close flat at KD 1.020. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) paused at KD 0.930 and logistics major Agility too did not budge from its previous close of KD 0.480.

National Bank of Kuwait stood pat at KD 0.590 and Burgan Bank followed suit. Burgan Bank has recorded a net profit of KD 31.42 million and earnings per share of 12.8 fils in the January-June period.

The market opened on tame note and moved sideways in early trade. The key index continued to drift along the opening mark as counters closed mixed. It slipped into red in the final hour to bottom at 5,460.8 pts before paring back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Real Estate Trade Center (Maraakez) jumped 7.8 pct to 27.5 fils while Securities Group Co climbed 5.8 percent to stand next. Soor Financial Group slid 7.9 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Noor Financial Investment Co topped the volume with 7.7 million shares.

Despite the day’s downtick, the winners slightly outled the losers. 34 stocks advanced whereas 30 closed lower. Of the 106 counters active on Sunday, 42 closed flat. 1,240 deals worth over KD 6 million were transacted — a 37.4 pct surge in value from the day before.

National Industries Group dialed up 2 fils to close at 112 fils while ACICO Industries and Boubyan Petrochemical Co shed 10 fils each to end at KD 0.280 and KD 0.490 respectively. Gulf Cable held steady at KD 0.385 whereas Kuwait Foundry Co took in 2 fils to settle at 166 fils.

Kuwait Cement Co and RISCO stood pat at KD 0.380 and KD 0.340 respectively. RISCO has registered a net profit of KD 2.99 million and earnings per share of 30.50 fils in the first half of 2016 up from net profit of KD 2.12 million and earnings per share of 22.38 fils in the same period last year.

United Projects Group gained 20 fils and ALAFCO took in 2 fils to close at 216 fils. The company has posted a net profit of KD 9,940,121 and earnings per share 10.95 fils in the nine-month period ending June 30, 2016 as compared to net profit of KD 13.35 million and earnings per share of 16.31 fils in the same period last year.

Humansoft Holding Co was unchanged at KD 1.560 off early highs and NICBM followed suit to wind up at 194 fils. Safwan Trading and Contracting Co gained 10 fils whereas Soor Fuel Marketing Co was down by same measure.

 Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co inched 1 fils higher to 44 fils and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co clipped 2 fils and Zima Holding stagnated at 41 fils. Mezzan Holding Co jumped 20 fils to KD 1.100.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank rose 2 fils to 228 fils whereas Al Ahli Bank and Ahli United Bank were unchanged at KD 0.320 and KD 0.385 respectively. Commercial Bank of Kuwait was not traded during the session.

Kuwait International Bank stood pat at 192 fils and Boubyan Bank gave up 5 fils after trading over 6 million shares. Warba Bank was unchanged at 170 fils.

Kuwait Investment Co was up 2 fils at 85 fils and National Investments Company closed flat. The company has logged a net profit of KD 1.76 million and earnings per share of 2.10 fils in the six-month period ending June 30, 2016.

Investment conglomerate KIPCO paused at KD 0.550 off slight early lows and First Investment Co followed suit. Securities House Co stood the ground at 48 fils whereas Securities Group added 5 fils. Bayan Investment Co eased 0.5 fils and Sokouk Holding Co was down by same measure.

KFIC inched 0.5 fils up while Noor Financial Investment Co was unchanged at 41 fils. Kuwait Insurance Co and Warba Insurance Co paused at KD 0.265 and 108 fils respectively.

United Real Estate Co rose 4 fils to 104 fils and National Real Estate Co closed 1 fils in red. Mabanee Co and Mazaya Holding Co were unchanged at KD 0.800 and 114 fils respectively.

The market has largely downbeat during last week. The price index closed lower in four of the five sessions and gave up 29 pts week-on-week. It has climbed 17 points from start of the month but is down 2.62 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 190 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, 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.

National Petroleum Services Co has logged a net profit of KD 3.75 million and earnings per share of 67.49 fils in the first half of 2016 as against a net profit of KD 3.46 million and earnings per share 61.93 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.

Asiya Capital Investments Company has clocked a net loss of KD 5.46 million and loss per share of 7.03 fils in the January-June period sliding from a net profit of KD 1.77 million and earnings per share of 2.29 fils in the same period last year.

Salhia Real Estate Company won the approval of Capital Markets Authority to buy back or sell a maximum of 10 percent of its shares for 6 months from date of the approval.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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