Kuwait market little changed; volume up – Americana vaults 150 fils; Humansoft Holding dips

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KUWAIT CITY, Sept 11: Kuwait stocks trod water Monday following last session’s upswing. The price index inched 0.71 points higher to 6,927.03 pts as the market flipped between small gains and losses. Some of the heavyweights however witnessed strong buying interest.

The KSX 15 gauge rose 1.95 pts to 1,025.03 points taking the year’s gains to 140 points while weighted index added 1.81 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile surged further to hit a multi-month high. 158.55 million shares changed hands – a 31.9 pct jump from the day before.

The sectors closed mixed. Consumer goods outshone the rest with 4 pct gain whereas consumer goods shed 1.89 percent, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, financial services garnered the highest market share of 35.54 pct and banks trailed with 28.8 percent contribution.

Among the standout performers, National Bank of Kuwait s extended its winning spree with a 10 fils gain on back of over 5 million shares and Kuwait Food Co (Americana) soared 150 fils recouping Sunday’s losses. Mabanee Co climbed 19 fils to 815 fils.

Zain climbed 7 fils to 508 fils on back of 14.2 million shares and Ooredoo rebounded 100 fils from last session’s shallow trough. Kuwait Telecommunications Co clipped 2 fils and Agility eased 1 fil to 917 fils.

Kuwait Finance House dipped 15 fils to 628 fils partly reversing Sunday’s gains while Al Ahli Bank closed flat. The bank has recorded a profit of KD 7.7 million in April – June quarter , a 5.6 pct increase from second quarter of last year. During H1 , earnings rose 7.7% to KD 16.21 million.

The market opened firm and headed lower in early trade. The price index vacillated in a narrow range amid mixed sentiment before plumbing the day’s lowest level of 6,935 points past the mid-session. It clawed back thereafter to close in the green territory.

Top gainer of the day, Madar Investment Co spiked 19.4 pct to 22.7 fils and KCPC climbed 12.6 pct to stand next. AFAQ slid 16.6 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Imtiaz topped the volume with 17.8 million shares.

Despite the day’s flat closing, the winners outnumbered the losers. 62 stocks advanced whereas 43 closed lower. Of the 130 counters active on Monday, 25 closed flat. 5,390 deals worth KD 37.34 million were transacted – a 41.46 pct surge in value from the day before.

National Industries Group took in 2 fils with volume of 4.3 million shares and Gulf Cable was up 4 fils at 506 fils. Kuwait Cement Co ticked 1 fil up to 425 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement Co gained 15 fils. ACICO paused at 270 fils.

Jazeera Airways vacillated in a narrow range before closing unchanged at 600 fils and ALAFCO dialed up 2 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co stalled at 216 fils and Shuaiba Industrial rose 10 fils to 300 fils. Kuwait Foundry Co and Kuwait National Cinema Co were unchanged at 300 fils and KD 1.350 respectively whereas Educational Holding Group gave up 1 fil. Equipment Holding Co trimmed 0.5 fil.

Automated Systems Co took in 1 fil and Al Rai Media Group followed suit. The company has recorded a 25.2 percent year-on-year drop fall in profits for the second quarter. In the January-June period, the profits dived 44.2% to KD 1.64 million.

Dived

Eyas For Higher and Technical Education dived 50 fils and AWJ Holding stood pat at 83.1 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co slipped 7 fils to 663 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co was down 4 fils at 346 fils.

NAPESCO fell 2 fils to 839 fis and Human Soft Holding tumbled 97 fils. The company has recorded a 19.9 pct rise in second quarter profits to KD 6.03 million from Q2 of previous year. In the first half , the earnings rose 17.3 percent to KD 13.17 million.

Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co was unchanged at 56.5 fils and KGL Logistics gave up 1.3 fils. Mezzan Holding clipped 1 fil before settling at 860 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank was flat at 238 fils while Commercial Bank and Boubyan Bank were up 1 fil each. Al Mutahed eased 1 fil to 429 fils.

Burgan Bank fell 3 fils to 373 fils and Kuwait International Bank rose 4 fils on back of 8.9 million shares. Warba Bank held ground at 264 fils.

Kuwait Investment Co was flat at 107 fils whereas National Investment Co and Coast Investment Co dialed up 1 fil each. Securities Investment House added 1.5 fils while Al Mal Investment and Unicap rose 1.1 fils each.

Bayan Investment Co fell 1.7 fils to 50.4 fils whereas Kuwait Financial Centre and Sokouk Holding paused at 110 fils and 49 fils respectively. Arzan gave up 1 fil and KFIC closed 1.9 fils in green. First Takaful climbed 5.7 fils to 61.9 fils.

KIPCO took in 2 fils and Al Deera Holding inched 1 fil lower. Ektittab Holding added 2.3 fils and Amwal Investment trimmed 1 fil. Madar Investment Co rose 3.7 fils and Noor Financial Centre eased 0.1 fil.

National Real Estate Co dialed up 1 fil and Kuwait Real Estate Co closed 1.6 fils in green. Mazaya Holding took in 2 fils and Abyaar Real Estate held ground at 26.8 fils.

The market has been upbeat so far during the week and has gained 6 points in last two sessions. It has rallied 34 pts from the start of the month and is trading 20.5 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, 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.

Kuwait Investment Co profits soared 158.3 percent to KD 2.97 million in the second quarter of 2017 from same period last year. In the January- June period, profits surged 283.6 pct year-on-year to KD 7.71 million.

Kuwait Real Estate Co’s net profits surged 51.2 pct year-on-year in the second quarter of 2017 to KD 1.49 million. In the first half , profits rose 10.5 percent to KD 3.16 million.

Imtiaz Investment Group’s second quarter profits soared by a whopping 1,041 pct to KD 19.97 million from same period in 2016. During the first six months, profits surged 626.3% to KD 32.32 million.

By John Mathews – Arab Times Staff

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