Kuwait market extends gains in ‘volatile’ trade – Humansoft Holding soars 156 fils; NBK slips

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KUWAIT CITY, Sept 13: Kuwait stocks pulled higher on Wednesday as it extended the gains to second consecutive session. The main index climbed 18.94 pts in volatile trade to 6,924.92 points paced by speculative buying in select counters . The banks mostly sagged whereas other blue chips closed mixed.

The KSX 15 benchmark fell 4.22 pts to 1016.27 points while weighted index was down 1.36 pts at 439 points. The volume turnover meanwhile shrank further after hitting a multi-month high earlier in the week. 111.4 million shares changed hands — down 18 pct from the day before.

The sectors closed mixed. Industrials outperformed the rest with 1.69 pct gain whereas insurance shed 1.47 percent, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, financial services notched the highest market share of 33.3 pct and real estate trailed with 26 percent contribution.

In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait slipped 7 fils to 778 fils after trading 3.2 million shares and Kuwait Finance House was down 15 fils at 60 4fils with brisk trading. Humansoft Holding, the highest priced stock in the bourse, soared 156 fils to KD 4.050.

Zain rose 5 fils to 515 fils on back of 7.6 million shares and Ooredoo tumbled 60 fils to KD 1.190. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) was up 4 fils at 809 fils and Agility extended last session’s uptick with a 15 fils gain.

Gulf Bank fell 3 fils to 235 fils and Commercial Bank of Kuwait closed flat. The bank has posted a second quarter profit of KD 1.2 million — down 67.9 pct from same period last year.

The market opened flat and edged lower in early trade. The price index pulled up briefly before heading south again to plumb the day’s lowest level of 6,866.21 pts almost half way into the session. It bounced back and traded sideways before revving up in the final minutes to close with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, Unicap spiked 15.12 pct to 51 fils and Kuwait Cement Co climbed 7.14 percent to stand next. Gulf Investment House dived 9 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Imtiaz topped the volume with 17.3 million shares.

Despite the day’s gains, the losers outnumbered the winners. 46 stocks advanced whereas 58 closed lower. Of the 131 counters active on Wednesday, 27 closed flat. 4416 deals worth KD 26.47 million were transacted — a 23.7 pct drop in value from the day before.

National Industries Group eased 1 fil to 148 fils after trading 1.2 million shares and Gulf Cable climbed 6 fils to 510 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co was flat at 214 fils and Al Kout Industries rose 4 fils to 604 fils.

Jazeera Airways dropped 10 fils to 590 fils with anemic volume and ALAFCO held ground at 369 fils off early lows. Boubyan Petrochemical Co gained 10 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co was up 3 fils at 345 fils.

Equipment

Kuwait Foundry Co was flat at 302 fils and Kuwait National Cinema Co clipped 2 fils. Equipment Holding Co trimmed 0.9 fil and Educational Holding Group was down 4 fils at 315 fils.

Eyas For Higher and Technical Education dipped 30 fils and Automated Systems Co took in 2 fils. PAPCO rose 4 fils and OSOS gave up 7 fils to wind up at 115 fils.

Combined Group Contracting Co dived 28 fils to 520 fils and Al Rai Media Group paused at 123 fils. Mezzan Holding Co inched 1 fil to 859 fils and AWJ Holding trimmed 1.8 fils. KPPC eased 0.2 fil and KCPC added 5 fils. KGL Logistics inched 0.9 fil to 52.9 fils.

NAPESCO gained 16 fils and Acico Industries added 4 fils. The company has posted a profits of KD 745,000 for the second quarter of 2017, a 35.8 pct drop from same period last year.

In the banking sector, Al Mutahed and Kuwait International Bank fell 1 fil each to close at 426 fils and 252 fils respectively whereas Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the session.

Burgan Bank ticked 1 fil up to close at 372 fils and Boubyan Bank gave up 5 fils extending Tuesday’s losses. Warba Bank see-sawed narrowly before closing flat at 263 fils.

National Investment Co and KIPCO were unchanged at 110 fils and 358 fils respectively whereas Kuwait Investment Co was up 3 fils at 106 fils. International Financial Advisers eased 0.4 fil to 38 fils.

Kuwait Financial Centre ( Markaz) slipped 8 fils to 102 fils and Coast Investment Co ticked 0.4 fil into green. Securities House Co rose 1.6 fils to 53 fils and KMEFIC dialed up 1.9 fils. Kuwait Insurance Co shed 15 fils and First Takafaul Insurance Co slipped 4.4 fils to 57.5 fils.

Bayan Investment Co dialed up 1.1 fils on back of 2.8 million shares and Sokouk Holding trimmed 0.5 fil. KFIC and Amwal Investment paused at 49.9 fils and 40 fils respectively whereas Noor Financial Investment Co eased 0.7 fil.

National Real Estate Co rose 3 fils to 132 fils and Kuwait Real Estate Co took in 0.5 fil. Salhiya Real Estate Co inched 1 fil down and Mabanee Co clipped 2 fils. Tamdeen Real Estate Co stalled at 405 fils.

The market has been largely upbeat so far during the week and has climbed 27 points in last four sessions. It has rallied 32 pts from the start of the month and is trading 20.47 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Injazzat Real Estate Development Company registered a 32.3 pct drop to KD 511,900 for the second quarter of 2017 from Q2 of 2016. In the first six months, the profits soared 36.1 percent to KD 2.86 million

First Takaful Insurance posted a 53.45 pct in profits to KD 753,970 in the second quarter of 2017 from the same period last year. During the first six months of 2017, the profits surged 104.1 percent to KD 1.7 million

United Real Estate ’s second quarter profits dropped 73.3 pct year-on-year to KD 280,280. In the January — June period, the earnings was down 52 pct to KD 1.44 million.

Mabanee Company posted a 1.55 pct rise in profits to KD 12.55 million for the second quarter from Q2 of previous year. In the first half , profits ticked 1 pct up to KD 24.61 million from corresponding period of 2016.

Gulf Insurance Group’s earnings dived 27.6 pct year-on-year during the second quarter to KD 2.77 million . During the first six months of 2017, the profits dropped 21.6% to KD 5.59 million .

National International Holding Co recorded a 66.2 percent dip in the second quarter profit to KD 828,500 from same period last year. In the first half of 2017, the profits tumbled 56 percent to KD 1.2 million.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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