Kuwait equities gain amid volatile trading – Americana jumps 20 fils; Jazeera Airways flat

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KUWAIT CITY, Dec 11: Kuwait stocks headed north as it kicked off the week on a positive note. The bourse climbed 22.62 pts in volatile trade to 5,611.78 points as sentiment firmed up over oil producers’ deal to curb their output. Some of the heavyweights shone whereas banks closed mixed.

The KSX 15 benchmark jumped 11.77 pts to claw back to the level at the start of the year, while weighted index rose 3.42 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile retreated from Wednesday’s multi-month high. 183.3 million shares changed hands — a 15.3 percent drop from the previous session.

The sectors closed mostly in the green. Financial services outshone the rest with 0.93 pct gain whereas technology slumped 4.3 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services accounted for the highest market share of 43.8 percent while insurance followed with over 33 pct contribution.

Among the prime movers, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait rallied 10 fils on back of over 2 million shares recouping last session’s drop and Kuwait Food Co (Americana) jumped 20 flls to KD 2.620 taking the year’s gains to 620 fils.

Zain rose 5 fils to 425 fils off early lows with a volume of 4.4 million while Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) scaled 40 fils to settle at KD 1.160 with razor thin volume. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) was unchanged at KD 0.900 whereas Agility gained 40 fils with brisk trading.

Kuwiat Finance House added 10 fils on back of 4.3 million shares whereas Gulf Bank closed flat. The bank has recorded a net profit of KD 32.80 million and earnings per share of 11 fils in the Jan-Sept period.

The market opened slightly weak and ticked up in early trading. The price index pulled back thereafter amid selling in select counters and bottomed at 5589.16 pts past the mid-session. It however revved up in the final hour to close with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, Boubyan International Industries Holding Co (BIIHC)rallied 10.5 pct to 21 fils while Aayan Leasing and Investment Co climbed 8.9 pct to stand next. OSOS slid 7.46 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and BIIHC also topped the volume with over 19 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s upswing, the market spread was skewed towards the winners. 58 stocks advanced whereas 26 closed lower. Of the 124 counters active on Sunday, 40 closed flat. 3,505 deals worth KD 17 million were transacted — a 25.9 pct drop in value from the day before.

National Industries Group rose 2 fils on back of 5.7 million shares to 128 fils while Gulf Cable was up 5 fils at 380 fils. Kuwait Foundry Co added 4 fils whereas Contracting and Marine Services Co gave up 5 fils to settle at 75 fils.

Budge

Jazeera Airways was unchanged at 770 fils with thin volume and ALAFCO too did not budge from its earlier close of 222 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co climbed 10 fils wheras OSOS Holding Group was down 10 fils at 126 fils.

ACICO Industries Co was unchanged at 270 fils and RISCO followed suit. The company has posted a net profit of KD 4.64 million and earnings per share of 47.37 fils in the nine-month period ending Sept 30, 2016.

Burgan Well Drilling Co gained 6 fils and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co paused at 230 fils. Equipment Holding Co was flat at 43 fils and Kuwait National Cinema Co too stagnated at 960 fils off steep early lows. Zima Holding Co stalled at 41 fils and Mezzan Holding gave up 10 fils.

Kuwait Gulf Link Transport Co stood pat at 52 fils and KGL Logistics Co eased 1 fil to 68 fils with a volume of over 2 million shares. Automated Systems Co clipped 2 fils whereas AWJ Holding Co dialed up 2 fils to close at 66 fils.

In the banking sector, Ahli United Bank climbed 5 fils to 395 fils whereas Kuwait International Bank and Burgan Bank paused at 206 fils and 300 fils respectively.

Boubyan Bank was up 5 fils at 400 fils while Warba Bank dialed down 2 fils to settle at 216 fils. Commercial Bank and Al Ahli Bank were not traded during the session.

Kuwait Investment Co took in 2 fils while KIPCO and Securities House Co stagnated at 510 fils and 43 fils respectively. International Financial Advisors rose 1.5 fils on back of over 11 million shares and National Investment Co inched 1 fil into green .

Bayan Investment Co and Osoul Investment dialed up 1 fil each whereas Al Mal Investment Co stood pat at 21 fils with brisk trading. Housing Finance Co and Al Deera Holding Co were up 1 fil each while Sokouk Holding Co closed 0.5 fil up.

KAMCO added 2 fils while Noor Financial Investment Co and Al Madina For Finance and Investment Co took in 0.5 fil each. Kuwait Insurance Co fell 2 fils to 236 fils whereas Al Ahleia Insurance Co dropped 10 fils to 430 fils.

Kuwait Real Estate Co rose 5 fils to 63 fils whereas National Real Estate Co and Mabanee Co paused at 106 fils and 820 fils respectively. Salhia Real Estate Co slipped 5 fils and Aayan Real Estate Co closed 3 fils higher.

The market has been mixed during last week. The main index closed higher in two of the four sessions and has gained 20 points week-on-week. It has climbed 57 points from the start of the month and is almost unchanged 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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