Kuwait index ekes modest gains; volume ticks higher – KFH extends upswing; Americana slumps

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KUWAIT CITY, Dec 4: Kuwait stocks eked modest gains on Monday extending the advance to the second consecutive day. The price index rose 7.81 points in choppy trade to 6,221.94 points even as the overall sentiment remained mixed.

The KSX 15 gauge fell 3 points to 910.8 points while weighted index edged 0.66 points down to 399.47 points. The volume turnover meanwhile bounced to a nearly 3-week high. 76.99 million shares changed hands — a 20.8 percent jump from the day before.

The sectors closed mixed. Insurance sector outshone the rest with 1.35 percent gain whereas consumer goods dived 4.7 pct, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services garnered the highest market share of 28.4 pct market share while banks followed with 26.8 pecrent contribution.

Among the notable movers, Kuwait Finance House extended last session’s rally with a 7 fils gain on back of over 5 million shares while National Bank of Kuwait took in 2 fils to close at 723 fils. Kuwait Food Co ( Americana) slumped 260 fils to KD 1.140.

Zain rose 3 fils TO 449 fils with a volume of 3.7 million and Ooredoo gave up 10 fils to close at KD 1.080. Kuwait Telecommunications Co fell 4 fils to 714 fils and Agility stood pat at 805 fils after vacillating earlier in the session.

Burgan Bank slipped 5 fils to 304 fils and Commercial Bank of Kuwait closed flat. The bank posted a net profit of KD 12.45 million in third quarter of 2017, down 22 pct from KD 15.98 million in the year-ago period.

The market opened firm and ticked higher in early trade. The price index headed south thereafter in choppy trade to plumb the day’s lowest level of 6,196 points almost half way into the session. It rebounded thereafter amid buying in select counters and peaked at 6,238 pts in the final minutes before closing with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, Shuaiba Industrial rallied 15.3 pts to 300 fils and Wethaq Takafaul climbed 13.9 percent to stand next. Americana tumbled 18.5 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Ithmaar Bank topped the volume with 6.5 million shares.

Despite the day’s uptick, the losers outnumbered the winners. 45 stocks advanced whereas 55 closed lower. Of the 119 counters active on Monday, 19 closed flat. 3760 deals worth KD 14.8 million were transacted — a 2`1.9 pct surge in value from the day before

National Industries Group climbed 4 fils to 153 fils extending Sunday’s uptick and Gulf Cable inched 1 fil into green with thin trading. Heavy Engineering and Shipbuilding Co clipped 2 fils while Equipment Holding Co inched 1 fil higher to 34.1 fils.

Jazeera Airways was unchanged at 658 fils and ALAFCO too did not budge from its earlier close of 370 fils. Afaq Educational Co erased Sunday’s gains with a drop of 9.9 fils while Al Rai Media Group gave up 1 fil.

Fell

ACICO Industries gained 10 fils while Metal and Recycling Co and Kuwait Foundry Co were up 3 fils each at 68 fils 269 fils respectively. Boubyan Petrochemical Co fell 3 fils to 627 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co was down 5 fils at 315 fils.

NICBM trimmed 1 fil and Mashaer Holding eased 0.5 fil to 62 fils. The company incurred a losses of KD 597,180 in the third quarter of 2017, as compared to KD 503,400 profit in the year ago period.

Humansoft Holding slid 50 fils to KD 3.700 whereas Nafais Holding jumped 50 fils to 550 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co slipped 3.5 fils to 60.2 fils and KGL Logistics dialed down 1 fil.

Kuwait Cement Co climbed 18 fils to 490 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement Co shed 20 fils. Mezzan Holding Company was up 8 fils at 768 fils. The company posted a 10.5 pct year-on-year drop in profits to KD 2.8 million for the third quarter of 2017.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank was unchanged at 241 fils while Al Ahli Bank and Ahli United Bank dialed down 1 fil each. Kuwait International Bank rose 3 fils to 229 fils.

Burgan Bank dipped 5 fils to 304 fils whereas Boubyan Bank held ground at 421 fils . Warba Bank took in 2 fils before settling at 226 fils.

Kuwait Investment Co and Commercial Facilities Co were unchanged at 118 fils and 167 fils respectively whereas Securities House Co added 1.9 fils. International Financial Advisors trimmed 0.3 fil and National Investment Co followed suit to wind up at 100.7 fils.

KIPCO was flat at 281 fils and KAMCO was down 4.4 fils at 65.4 fils. Bayan Investment Co and Osoul Investment Co stalled at 45 fils and 56.9 fils respectively whereas Coast Investment Co gave up 0.3 fil before closing at 32.5 fils.

Noor Financial Investment Co added 1.9 fils and KMEFIC closed 1 fil in green, Amwal Investment gave up 2 fils and Alimtiaz was up 2 fils at 162 fils. Gulf Insurance Co dipped 18 fils to 700 fils and Warba Insurance Co stalled at 64 fils.

National Real Estate Co was flat at 126 fils and Salhiya Real Estate Co was down 9 fils at 344 fils. Kuwait Real Estate Co eased 0.2 fil and Mabanee Co gained 4 fils.

The bourse has been edging higher so far during the week and has gained 25 points in last two sessions. It had slid 317 points during whole of November and is trading over 8.24 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Commercial Facilities recorded a a 26.2 percent surge in third-quarter profits to KD 2.94 million from same period last year. In the first nine months of 2017, net profit swelled by 33.7 percent to KD 7.3 million, The company attributed the rise in its profits to the increase in investment profits.

Asiya Capital Investments Co on Thursday bounced back to black in the third quarter of 2017 with a profit of KD 503,900 as against loss of KD 590,000 in the same period in the year before. In the January-September period the losses totaled KD 794,290 narrowing from KD 4.63 million in the 9M of 2016.

Mezzan Holding Company posted a 10.5 pct year-on-year drop in profits to KD 2.8 million for the third quarter of 2017, in the first nine months of the year, earnings dipped by 23.1 percent to KD 10.1 million. Revenues grew 4.3 pct to KD 49.8 million in Q3 , while in 9M period was almost unchanged at KD 157.6 million

NAPESCO posted a 104.4 percent surge to KD 3.96 million in the third quarter profits of 2017 from the same period last year. The company earned KD 8 mln in the first three quarters – a 39.9 pct rise from KD 5.72 m in the same period last year.

By John Mathews – Arab Times Staff

 

 

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