KUWAIT CITY, Dec 25: Kuwait stocks headed north on Sunday after logging modest gains in the previous week. The price index climbed 23.94 pts to 5,700.16 points led by banking heavyweights and some of the mid-caps.The KSX 15 gauge rallied 10.75 points to 8,93.24 pts taking the month’s gains to 38 points while weighted index added 3 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile saw modest rise helped mostly by speculative trading. 162 million shares changed hands — a 6.93 pct increase from Thursday.The sectors closed mixed. Parallel market outshone the rest with 1 pct gain whereas oil and gas shed 0.97 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services notched the highest market share of 51.4 pct while real estate followed with 27.2 pct contribution.Among the day’s gainers, National bank of Kuwait rose ‘10 fils to 650 fils and KFH rallied 20 fils on back of 4.2 million shares. Humansoft Holding soared 100 fils to KD 2.320 and Kuwait National Cinema Co followed suit to wind up at KD 1.160.Zain rose 5 fils to 420 fils with a volume of over 3 million and Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) was down 20 fils at KD 1.100 with thin trading. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) was unchanged at 920 fils and Agility stood pat at 630 fils off early lows.Burgan Bank was flat at 310 fils and Gulf Bank of Kuwait too did not budge from its earlier close of 242 fils. The bank has recorded a net profit of KD 32.80 million and earnings per share of 11 fils in the January-September period.The market opened firm and edged higher in early trade. The main index continued to rise amid buying in select counters and sagged slightly past the mid-session. However it revved up again in the final minutes and closed with modest gains.Top gainer of the day, Kuwait National Cinema Co rallied 9.4 pct to KD 1.160 and Equipment Holding Co was close behind with 9 percent jump. Contracting and Marine Services Co slid 7.35 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Salah topped the volume with over 22 million shares.Mirroring the day’s upswing, the winners outnumbered the losers. 44 stocks advanced whereas 33 closed lower. Of the 125 counters active on Sunday, 48 closed flat. 3,758 deals worth KD 13.2 million were transacted – an 8.8 pct fall in value from the last session.National Industries Group, the flagship company of the Kharafi Group, was flat at 122 fils and Gulf Cable was up 5 fils at 380 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co fell 4 fils while Metal and Recycling Co gave up 3 fils to close at 65 fils.TradedJazeera Airways dipped 10 fils to KD 0.770 and ALAFCO took in 2 fils to settle at 230 fils. Kuwait Foundry Co was unchanged at 182 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement Co too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.910. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) was not traded during the session.Combined Group Contracting Co dropped 10 fils to 600 fils and Jeeran Holding Co slipped 2.5 fils. The company has logged a net profit of KD 431,750 and earnings per share of 3.17 fils in the first nine-month of 2016UPAC gained 20 fils and Alrai Media Group Co clipped 2 fils. The company has logged nine- month net profit of KD 2.94 million and earnings per share of 12.701 fils.Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co rose 2 fils to 232 fils whereas Salbookh Trading Co eased 2 fils to 232 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co inched 1 fil up whereas KGL Logistics Co paused at 72 fils.NAPESO and Mezzan Holding were unhchanged at 810 fils and 930 fils respectively while Zimah Holding dialed up 0.5 fil. IFA Hotels and Resorts and Automated Systems Co gave up 4 fils each to close at 156 fils and 246 fils.In the banking sector, Commercial Bank of Kuwait fell 5 fils to 410 fils and Ahli United Bank held ground at 395 fils. Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the session. Boubyan Bank stagnated at 400 fils and Warba Bank followed suit.Investment conglomerate KIPCO was unchanged at KD 0.510 while National Investment Co and Securities House Co were up 1 fil each. International Financial Advisors dialed up 0.5 fil whereas Sokouk Holding closed 0.5 fil in red.Kuwait Investment Co and Al Mal Investment paused at 84 fils and 20 fils respectively while Al Deera Holding fell 1 fil to 31 fils. Noor Financial Investment Co gave up 0.5 fil and Ekittitab Holding followed suit.Bayan Investment Coa and Unicap were unchanged at 33 fils and 48 fils respectively whereas Al Imitiaz took in 2 fils on back of over 6 million shares. Warba Insurance Co fell 3 fils to 99 fils and Wethaq Takaful Insurance Co closed 1 fil higher.Kuwait Real Estate Co and National Real Estate Co were flat at 62 flls and 102 fils respectively whereas ERESCO was down 2.5 fils at 37 fils. Mabanee Co paused at 840 fils and United Real Estate Co dialed up2 fils. Mazaya Holding Co stood pat at 112 fils and Argan added 2 fils.The market was largely positive during last week. It closed higher in four of the five sessions and gained 8 pts week-on-week. It has rallied 146 points from the start of the month and is up 1.5 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 208 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.In the bourse related news, Shuaiba Industrial Co has recorded a net profit of KD 1.66 million and earnings per share of 20.94 fils in 2016, 9M up from net profit of KD 1.33 mln and earnings per share of 16.83 fils in same period of 2015.Aqar Real Estate Investments Co. has registered a net profit of KD 923,223 and earnings per share of 4.34 fils in the January-September period down from net profit of KD 1.72 million and EPS of 7.63 fils in the 9M of 2015.Jeeran Holding Co. has logged a net profit of KD 431,750 and earnings per share of 3.17 fils in the first nine-month of 2016 up sharply from net profit of KD 177,518 and earnings per share of 1.30 fils in the 9M of 2015.Kuwait Building Materials Mfg has registered a net profit of KD 159,204 and earnings per share of 5.3 fils in the January-September period as against net profit of KD 363,059 and earnings per share of 12 fils in the same period last year.Hilal Cement Company has logged a net loss of KD 3,709 and loss per share of 0.04 fil in the January-September period of 2016 narrowing from a net loss of KD 117,151 and LPS of 1.39 fils in same period in 2015.By John MathewsArab Times Staff