Kuwait stocks extend gains; volume shrinks – Humansoft Holding soars 190 fils; KIPCO flat

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KUWAIT CITY, Dec 13: Kuwait stocks swung higher on Wednesday extending last session’s rebound. The price index climbed 40.29 points in volatile trade to 6,237.87 points paced by banks and other heavyweights. Some of the mid-caps to posted solid gains.

The KSX 15 gauge rose 6.46 pts to 901.23 points while weighted index was up 2.19 pts tp 396.33 points. The volume turnover meanwhile pulled back slightly following two-day upswing. 57.7 million share changed hands — a 15 pct drop from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in green. Industrials outshone the rest with 1.79 pct gain whereas insurance sector shed 1.69 percent, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise, financial services notched the highest market share of 34.89 pct and banks trailed with over 25 percent contribution.

Among the prime movers, Humansoft Holding soared 190 fils to KD 3.680 while National Bank of Kuwait and Kuwait Finance House rose 4 fils each to close at 716 fils and 568 fils respectively. Mabanee Co was up 8 fils at 702 fil extending Tuesday’s gains.

Zain took in 2 fils on back of 2.3 million shares and Ooredoo added 4 fils to settle at KD 1.056. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) jumped 23 fils to 735 fils and logistics major Agility extended last session’s gains with a 11 fils rise to 787 fils.

Commercial Bank of Kuwait was flat at 400 fils and Gulf Bank followed suit. The bank’s total shareholders’ equity stood at KD 591.2 million by the end of September 2017 while operating profits stood at KD 89.7 million in January —September period.

The market opened a tame note and drifted listlessly in early trade. The price index pulled up almost half way into the session but retreated thereafter as selling kicked in. It skidded to plumb the day’s lowest level of 6,116 pts before clawing back sharply in the final minutes to close with strong gains.

Top gainer of the day, AFAQ spiked 18.9 pct to 113 fils and Sanam Real Estate Co jumped 14 percent to stand next. Metal and Recycling Co tumbled 19.8 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Ithmaar topped the volume with 8.2 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s upswing, the winners outnumbered the losers. 58 stocks advanced whereas 32 closed lower. Of the 114 counters active on Wednesday, 24 closed lower. 2330 deals worth over KD 7 million were transacted — down 10.9 pct in value from the day before.

National Industries Group dialed up 2 fils with a volume of over 1 million and Shuaiba Industries gave up 2 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co extended Tuesday’s gains by adding 3 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co inched 1 fil into green.

Jazeera Airways climbs 9 fils to 654 fils and ALAFCO gave up 5 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co gained 7 fils and Equipment Holding Co clipped 1 fil.

Added

Mezzan Holding rose 3 fils to 768 fils and ACICO Industries added 5 fils. Educational Holding Co fell 3 fils to 301 fils and KPPC gave up 1.9 fils.

Automated Systems Co was flat at 135 fils and NAPESCO jumped 18 fils. The company’s 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 m in the 9M period— up 39.9 pct from last year.

Combined Group Contracting Co rose 4 fils to 478 fils and Alrai Media Group slipped 3 fils. The company has incurred loss of KD 143,000 in the third quarter of 2017. During the first nine months , profits dipped 49 pct to KD 1.5 million.

Burgan Well Drilling Co climbed 6 fils to 80 fils while Mashaer was up 5 fils at 68 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co eased 0.3 fil to 66 fils and KGL Logistics dialed up 1.8 fils.

In the banking sector, Al Ahli Bank dipped 8 fils to 297 fils with thin trading while Al Mutahed stood pat at 350 fils off early lows. Kuwait International Bank was up 3 fils at 223 fils.

Burgan Bank ticked 1 fil higher to 301 fils and Warba Bank followed suit. Boubyan Bank dialed up 2 fils before settling at 225 fils.

International Financial Advisors ticked 0.3 fil higher to 28.8 fils while National Investment Co and KIPCO paused at 100 fls and 293 fils respectively. Securities House Co and Alola took in 0.5 fil each whereas Arzan gave up 0.8 fil to end at 30.1 fils.

Kuwait Real Estate Co ticked 0.1 fil higher and United Real Estate Co dialed down 1 fil. National Real Estate Co was unchanged at 124 fils and Al Aqaria took in 2.9 fils. Mazaya Holding added 1 fil and Remal was up 0.3 fil at 34.3 fils.

Bayan Investment Co fell 0.5 fil to 49 fils whereas KFIC and Ektittab Holding were unchanged at 45 fils and 30.5 fils respectively. Noor Financial Investment Co eased 61 fils to 61 fils and Amwal inched 0.2 fil lower.

KAMCO dropped 7.5 fils to 62 fils and Al Imtiaz dialed up 2 fils. Unicap edged 0.4 fil higher and Al Deera Holding closed 0.3 fil in red. Coast Investment Co and KMEFIC stalled at 32.9 fils and 25 fils respectively.

The bourse has been largely upbeat so far during the week and has climbed 50 pts in last four sessions. It has advanced 41 points so far during the month and is trading 8.5 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, National Industries Group Holding has logged a profit of KD 2.12 million in the third quarter of 2017, rebounding from losses of KD 700,000 in the same period last year. In the first nine months , the profits climbed to KD 7.35 million, as compared to losses of KD 5.06 million in 9M of 2016

Credit Rating and Collection Co’s (Tahssilat) losses widened to KD 269,840 in the third quarter of 2017 from KD 61,020 in the same period last year. During the nine-month period, it logged a profit of KD 830,200 against a loss of KD 291,200 in the same period in 2016.

Asiya Capital Investments Co 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.

Aqar Real Estate Investments Co’s earnings was down 6.42 pct year-on-year during the third quarter of 2017 to KD 345,140 .In the January-September period, profits rose 11.5 percent to KD 1.03 million. The operating revenues rose 14.6 pct to KD 1.48 million in nine-month period

By John Mathews – Arab Times Staff

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