Kuwait index nudges higher; volume rises – Americana soars 40 fils; Zain slips

This news has been read 6214 times!

KUWAIT CITY, Nov 2: Kuwait stocks nudged higher on Monday extending the gains to third straight session. The bourse rose 5.06 pts in slightly volatile trade to 5,784.8 points led by renewed buying in some of the large caps. The board was largely mixed even as banks remained largely subdued.

The KSX 15 benchmark edged 2.17 pts higher to 926.49 points trimming the year’s losses to 134 points while weighed index inched 0.69 points up. The volume turnover meanwhile rose for the second day in row helped by spurt in speculative trading in select counters. 142.22 million shares changed hands – a 11.13 pct increase from the day before.

The sectors diverged during the session. Basic materials outshone the rest with 1.09 percent gain whereas technology dropped 1.21 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services accounted for the highest market share of over 41 percent and real estate stood behind with 25.3 percent contribution.

Among notable movers, Kuwait Food Co (Americana) soared 40 fils to KD 2.300 while KIPCO was up 10 fils at KD 0.580 and is down 120 fils from the start of the year. Mabanee Co climbed 20 fils to KD 0.880 and Tamdeen Real Estate Co followed suit.

Bourse heavyweight Zain fell 5 fils to KD 0.370 whereas Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) held the ground unchanged at KD 1.040. Logistics major Agility gave up 10 fils to close at KD 0.530 and has shed 210 fils year-to-date.

Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) slipped 10 fils to KD 0.870. The company has posted a net profit of KD 32.85 million and earnings per share of 66 fils in the first nine months of 2015 up from KD 29,28 million and earnings per share of 59 fils the same period of 2014.

The market opened flat and ticked higher in early trade. The main gauge peaked at 5793.31 pts and sagged thereafter as selling weighed on select counters. It slipped below the red and plumbed the day’s lowest level of 5,761.52 pts in the final minutes before pulling back into green at close.

 Top gainer of the day, Kuwait Cable Vision Co jumped over 9 pct to 30 fils and Mushrif Trading and Contracting Co climbed 7.35 percent to stand next. Manafae slid 7.25 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Gulf Investment House topped the volume with 12.6 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s uptick the market spread as skewed towards the gainers. 52 stocks advanced whereas 37 closed lower. Of the 138 counters active on Sunday, 49 closed flat. 3,741 deals worth KD 11.10 were transacted – a marginal 1.28 pct rise in value from the day before.

National Industries Group dialed up 2 fils to KD 0.144 whereas Kuwait Cement Co and Metal and Recycling Co were down 5 fils each to end at KD 0.375 and 65 fils respectively. Gulf Cable was unchanged at KD 0.410 and Kuwait Portland Cement Co followed suit.

ACICO Industries Co gained 15 fils and Independent Petroleum Group was up by same measure. Boubyan Petrochemicals Co climbed 20 fils to KD 0.550 and Equipment Holding Co took in 2 fils to settle at 72 fils.

Down

Kuwait Foundry Co gave up 2 fils and RISCO was down 5 fils at KD 0.320. The company has registered a net profit of KD 3.22 million and earnings per share of 34.68 fils in the January-September period as compared to net profit of KD 2.92 million and earnings per share of 31.45 fils in the same period last year.

On the downside, Automated Systems Co slid 25 fils to KD 0.325 and IFA Hotels and Resorts shed 10 fils. Mezzan Holding Co dropped 20 fils to KD 1.100 and Burgan Well Drilling Co fell 5 fils to 93 fils.

Jazeera Airways was flat at KD 0.480 off early lows and ALAFCO followed suit. The company has posted a net profit of KD 16.04 million and earnings per share of 19.59 fils in the nine-month period ending

Sept 30, 2015 as compared to net profit of KD 16.52 million and earnings per share of 20.18 fils in the same period of 2014.

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co added 1.5 fils on back of over 1 million shares and KGL Logistics Company swung 4 fils higher. The company has recorded a nine-month net profit of KD 5.4 million and earnings per share of 9.01 fils. Mashaer Holding Co held steady at KD 0.112.

In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait was unchanged at KD 0.820 with a volume of 1.4 million and Gulf Bank rose 5 fils to KD 0.270 Ahli United Bank paused at KD 0.550 whereas Commercial Bank of Kuwait and Al Ahli Bank were not traded during the session.

Kuwait International Bank stagnated at KD 0.232 and Kuwait Finance House followed suit after trading over 1 million shares. Burgan Bank was up 5 fils at KD 0.400. The bank has clocked a net profit of KD 50.02 million and earnings per share of 23.7 fils in the first nine months of 2015. Boubyan Bank was unchanged at KD 0.435.

National Investment Co paused at KD 0.110 and KMEFIC too did not budge from its earlier close. KAMCO dialed up 2 fils and Osoul Investment inched 1 fils up.

The bourse has been positive so far during the week and has added 9 points in last two sessions. It had gained 47 points during whole of October and is trading 11.57 pct lower year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Hilal Cement Company has incurred a net loss of KD 117,151 and loss per share of 1.5 fils in the nine-month period ending September 31, 2015 narrowing from net loss of KD 282,090 and loss per share of 3.7 fils in the year before period.

Aayan Real Estate Co has recorded a net profit of KD 1.09 million and earnings per share of 2.6 fils in the January-September period down from net profit of KD 2.58 million and earnings per share of 6.2 fils in 9M 2014.

Future Communications Co Global has posted a net profit of KD 732,998 and earnings per share of 9.05 fils in the first nine-months of 2015 , up from net profit of KD 635,355 and earnings per share of 7.84 fils in the same period of last year.

The Energy House Co has logged a net loss of KD 668,888 and losses per share 0.892 fils in the nine-month period ending September 30, 2015 narrowing from a net loss of KD 2.21 million and losses per share of 2.947 fils in the same period last year.

Warba Bank has recorded a net profit of KD 1.25 million and earnings per share 1.25 fils in the first nine-months of the year as compared to net profit of KD 318,000 and earnings per share of 0.32 fils in the 9M of 2014.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

This news has been read 6214 times!