Kuwait gains in choppy session, volume swells – Americana climbs 18 fils; KAMCO slips

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KUWAIT CITY, July 11: Kuwait stocks headed north on Tuesday as it continued its advance to sixth straight session . The price index climbed 30.08 points in choppy trade to 6,778.62 pts amid fresh buying in select counters. The telecoms shone while banking shares eked modest gains.

The KSX 15 benchmark jumped 9.28 pts to 923.22 points taking the month’s gains to 13 points while weighted index was up 4.1 points at 404.91 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile rose further to hit a fresh 6-week high. 99.5 million shares changed hands — a 13 pct rise from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in green. Telecommunications outshone the rest with 3.2 pct gain whereas parallel market dropped 2.9 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, real estate garnered the highest market share of 34.6 percent while financial services stood next with 32.56 pct contribution.

In the individual shares, KIPCO climbed 17 fils to 350 fils and Kuwait Finance House rallied 6 fils to 493 fils on back of 3 million shares. Mabanee Co gained 10 fils to close at 770 fils and Kuwait Food Co (Americana) powered 18 fils higher.

Zain rose 20 fils to 437 fils on back of 7.6 million shares adding to last session’s modest gains while Ooredoo soared 65 fils to KD 1.165. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) climbed 25 fils to 822 fils and Agility was up 15 fils at 795 fils.

National Bank of Kuwait inched 1 fil higher after trading over 2 million shares and Warba Bank added 3 fils. The bank has posted a 296.3% jump in its profits to KD 1.3 million in 2017 Q1 as compared to the same period last year.

The market opened firm and edged higher in early trade. The main index pulled back sharply to plumb the day’s lowest level of 6,740.56 pts and headed north thereafter. It continued to climb in choppy trade before revving up in the final minutes to close with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, Warba Insurance Co soared 20 pct to 86.4 fils while Ajwan climbed 19.5 pct to stand close behind. Energy Holding Co dived 8.4 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Imtiaz topped the volume with 14.7 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s upswing, the market spread was heavily skewed towards winners. 71 stocks advanced whereas 27 closed lower. Of the 120 counters active on Tuesday, 22 closed flat. 3,539 deals worth KD 15.78 million were transacted — a 14.8 pct jump in value from the day before.

National Industries Group fell 2 fils to 123 fils and Gulf Cable was down 11 fils at 419 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co was unchanged at 560 fils while Al Qurain Petrochemical Co gained 8 fils. Metal and Recycling Co was down 7 fils at 80 fils.

Jazeera Airways inched 1 fil up to 476 fils and ALAFCO followed suit.. ACICO rose 9 fils to 260 fils with thin trading. Kuwait Cable Vision Co eased 0.1 fil.

Slipped

Kuwait Foundry Co slipped 7 fils to 258 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement Co climbed 20 fils to 920 fils. NICBM and Equipment Holding Co took in 1 fil each to wind up at 185 fils and 51 fils respectively.

Combined Group Contracting Co fell 1 fil to 618 fils while Humansoft Holding and KCPC paused at KD 4.260 and 165 fils respectively. Eyas For Higher and Technical Education dialed up 1 fil.

Burgan Well Drilling Co dipped 7 fils to 82 fils and Yiaco jumped 20 fils with razor thin trading. Zimah Holding added 1.5 fils and Mezzan Holding took in 2 fils to close at 942 fils.

Educational Holding Group climbed 11 fils to 360 fils and Al Rai Media Group closed flat. Gulf Finance Co rose 10 fils to 70 fils.

In the banking sector, Commercial Bank inched 1 fil up whereas Al Ahli Bank stood pat at 327 fils. Al Mutahed gave up 5 fils to end at 398 fils partly reversing last session’s gains and Gulf Bank rose 5 fils to 244 fils.

Burgan Bank rose 3 fils to 333 fils whereas Kuwait International Bank held ground at 249 fils after trading 2.7 million shares. Boubyan Bank dialed up 1 fil to close at 409 fils.

National Investment Co was flat a 103 fils while Coast Investment Co and Arzan took in 1 fil each. Securities House Co was up 2 fils at 42.9 fils and International Financial Advisors closed 1.7 fils in green with a volume of 1.5 million.

KAMCO fell 1.3 fils to 77.7 fils while Ektittab Holding and Sokouk Holding added 0.3 fil each. Kuwait Investment Co trimmed 1.3 fils and Alola was unchanged at 46 fils. Warba Insurance Co climbed 14.4 fils to 86.4 fils.

Noor Financial Investment Co dialed up 0.5 fil whereas Amwal Investment Co fell 3 fils to 45 fils. Al Imtiaz clipped 2 fils and Al Deera Holding edged 0.9 fil into green. Kuwait Insurance Co paused at 260 fils.

National Real Estate Co rose 2 fils to 115 fils on back of 1.7 million shares and Kuwait Real Estate Co was up 1.7 fils. United Real Estate Co eased 0.2 fil while Salhiya Real Estate Co and Mazaya Holding both inched 1 fil higher.

The market has been upbeat so far during the week and has climbed 98 points in last three sessions. It has gained 115 points so far during the month and is trading 17.93 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Kuwait Finance and Investment (KFIC) rebounded to post a net profit of KD 146,350 in the first three months of 2017, from KD 255,510 loss in first quarter of 2016. Operating income grew 76% year-on-year to reach KD 1.65 million.

Aayan Real Estate has recorded a 164.7 percent jump in its profits to KD 536,890 for the first quarter of 2017 from same period in the year before. During 2016, the profit saw a 1.5% uptick to KD 2.75 million in 2016 from the previous year.

Ooredoo Kuwait has posted 26.6 pct jump in profits during the first quarter of 2017 to KD 12.93 million from KD 10.21 million in same period last year. It had recorded a growth of 75% in profits to KD 46.67 million during 2016.

Mowasat Healthcare has registered a 40.2% increase in net profits in the first quarter of 2017, to reach KD 1.92 million as compared to KD 1.37 million in the year before period.

Al Ahleia Insurance’s first quarter net profit dropped by 14.5% in the first to KD 2.88 million from KD 3.37 million in Q1 of 2016. Operational income dipped 39.6 pct to KD 1.58 million.

National Ranges Company’s (Mayadeen) losses shrank by 18.2 pct in the first quarter of 2017 to KD 642,620 from about KD 785,610 in same period of 2016.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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