Kuwait extends gains; volume little changed – Humansoft Holding vaults 200 fils; Ooredoo flat
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Kuwait City, Nov 9 : Kuwait stocks swung higher on Thursday to wind up the week on a bright note. The price index, after a sluggish start, soared 78.4 pts to 6258.47 points amid value buying in select counters following steep reverses earlier in the week
The KSX 15 benchmark jumped 22.52 pts to 910.13 points while weighted index climbed 7.26 points to 387.67 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile was little changed following last session’s dip. 98.47 million shares changed hands – a 1.21 pct downtick from the day before
The sectors closed mostly in green. Insurance outpaced the rest with 2.8 pct gain whereas oil and gas eased 0.21 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services mustered the highest market share of 34 pct and real estate trailed with 25.4 percent contribution.
Among prominent gainers, National Bank of Kuwait extended Wednesday’s rebound with a 11 fils rise to 727 fils and Kuwait Finance House rallied 22 fils on back of over 9 million shares. Mabanee Co scaled 70 fils and Humansoft Holding vaulted 200 fils to KD 3.700.
Zain was up a robust 18 fils with a volume of over 7 million whereas Ooredoo stood pat at KD 1.150. Kuwait Telecommunication Co paused at 760 fils after vacillating earlier in the session while Agility added 5 fils on back of 2.6 million shares.
Gulf Bank took in 2 fils and Warba Bank’ added 3 fils. The bank’s third quarter earnings soared 428.4 pct year-on-year to KD 2.23 million. During the first nine months, the profits jumped 442 percent to KD 4.75 million.
The market opened on a tame note and slipped into red in early trade. The main index plumbed the day’s lowest level of 6121 pts past the mid-session and headed north thereafter. It continued to rise amid fresh buying in select counters and closed with impressive gains.
Top gainer of the day, KMEFIC spiked 20 pct to 24 fils and Gulf Insurance Co climbed 19 pct to stand close behind. Mashaer slid 20 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Kuwait Finance House topped the volume with over 9 million shares.
Mirroring the day’s upswing, the winners outnumbered the losers by almost two to one. 68 stocks advanced whereas 36 closed lower. Of the 126 counters active on Thursday, 22 closed flat. 4238 deals worth KD 18.7 million were transacted – a down 11.4 pct in value from the day before.
National Industries Group and Kuwait Cement Co were unchanged at 140 fils and 456 fils respectively whereas Gulf Cable climbed 18 fils to 430 fils. Heavy Engineering and Shipbuilding Co was up 6 fils at 193 fls.
Jazeera Airways fell 2 fils to 642 fils partly paring last session’s gains while ALAFCO held ground at 355 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co gained 8 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co scaled 15 fils to wind up at 330 fils.
Shed
Kuwait Foundry Co shed 20 fils while Metal and Recycling Co and NICBM were up 5 fils each at 76 fils and 185 fils. ACICO rose 5 fils to 245 fils and Equipment Holding Co stood pat at 35.5 fils. Kuwait Hotels dialed down 5 fils to end at 175 fils.
NAPESCO fell 4 fils to 785 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement was unchanged at 920 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co clipped 2 fils and KGL Logistics Co dialed up 2.8 fils.
Mezzan Holding climbed 10 fils and Alrai Media Group closed flat. The company has incurred loss of KD 143,000 in the third quarter of 2017. During the first nine months , the profits dipped 49% to KD 1.5 million.
Al Ahli Bank slipped 7 fils to 305 fils whereas Al Mutahed and Commercial Bank were unchanged at 370 fils and 400 fils respectively. Burgan Bank dialed up 2 fils to end at 315 fils.
Boubyan Bank rose 6 fils to 424 fils extending last session’s gains while Kuwait International Bank and Warba Bank were up 3 fils at 220 fils and 214 fils respectively.
KIPCO dropped 15fils after eking feeble rebound in the day before while National Investment Co dialed up 2 fils. International Financial Advisors took in 1.5 fils and Coast Investment Co closed 2.5 fils in green.
Bayan Investment and Amwal Investment ticked up 0.5 fil each whereas Osoul Investment gave up 2 fils, KFIC inched 0.8 fil higher and Unicap dialed up 1.5 fils.
Sokouk Holding rose 1.8 fils and Ekttitab Holding closed 1.7 fils higher. Kuwait Investment Co climbed 6 fils to 112 fils and Seurities House edged 0.9 fil into green
Noor Financial Investment Co ticked 0.7 fils up and KAMCO shed 10.5 fils. The company has recorded Q3 profit of KD 621,320, a 273.3 pct surge from KD 166,430 . For the first nine months of the year, earnings rose 11.93 percent to KD 996,680.
National Real Estate Co rose 2 fils to 110 fils and Salhiya Real Estate added 5 fils. AREEC was up 4 fils at 167 fils and Mazaya Holding closed 3 fils in green.
The bourse has been mixed during the week. The main index closed lower in two of the five sessions and has dived 210 points week-on-week. It has tumbled 255 points from start of the month and is trading over 8.88 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, Zain’s third quarter earnings dropped 7 percent to nearly KD 40 million , compared to KD 43 million for the same period last year. Revenues amounted to KD 259 million and EBITDA stood at KD 104 million. In the 9M period, profits slipped by 1.6 pct to KD 122 million.
Aayan Real Estate’s third quarter profits slid 79.9 percent to KD 124,510 compared to KD 620,740 in same period last year. In the first nine months of 2017, was up 0.2 pct to KD 1.019 million.
Gulf Bank of Kuwait’s total shareholders’ equity stood at KD 591.2 million by the end of September 2017. The net revenue from interest totaled KD 97.2 mln in January – September period while operating profits stood at KD 89.7 million.
Aqar Real Estate Investments Co’s earnings was down 6.42 pct year-on-year during the third quarter of 2017 to KD 345,140 .In the January-September period, profits rose 11.5 percent to KD 1.03 million. The operating revenues rose 14.6 pct to KD 1.48 million in nine-month period.
Credit Rating and Collection Co’s (Tahssilat) losses widened to KD 269,840 in the third quarter of 2017 from KD 61,020 in the same period last year. During the nine-month period, it logged a profit of KD 830,200 against a loss of KD 291,200 in the same period in 2016.
By John Mathews – Arab Times Staff
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