KSE climbs 32.74 pts amid surge in volume – NBK rallies 10 fils; Jazeera Airways drops

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KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27: Kuwait stocks staged a modest rebound on Wednesday as it extended the volatile streak from start of the week. The bourse climbed 32.74 pts in broad advance to settle at 4,969.25 points as sentiment got a fillip following an uptick in crude oil prices. Banks and financials shares paced the gains even investors await annual earnings.

The KSX 15 benchmark climbed 10.39 pts to 788.28 points trimming the month’s losses to 96 points while weighted index added 4.4 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile surged past the 100 million mark helped by spurt in bargain buying in select counters. 170.32 million shares changed hands — a 95.4 pct jump from Tuesday.

The sectors closed mostly in the green. Banks outshone the rest with 2 pct gain whereas consumer services shed 0.46 pct, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services garnered the highest market share of 40 percent while real estate stood next with 32.42 pct.

Among the standout performers, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait rallied 10 fils to KD 0.680 on back of 1.7 million shares while Kuwait Finance House was up 5 fils with a volume of 5.3 million shares and is trading 90 fils lower from start of the month. KIPCO climbed 10 fils to KD 0.510

Zain rose 10 fils to KD 0.335 after trading 1.33 million shares whereas Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) was unchanged at KD 1.060 after posting modest gains in the last session.

Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) rose 10 fils to KD 1.000 off early lows and Agility closed 5 fils higher at KD 0.415. VIVA has posted a net profit of KD 42,95 million and earnings per share of 86 fils in 2015, up from KD 40.36 million net profit and earnings per share of 81 fils in the year before

The market opened firm amid broad buying interest and moved sideways in early trade. The price index inched up to peak at 4980.24 pts past the mid-session and sagged slightly in the final minutes before winding up with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, Al Dar National Real Estate Co spiked 11.36 pct to 24.5 fils and the counter also topped the volume with 27.53 million. Manazel Holding Co climbed 8.8 pct to stand next whereas Amwal International Investment Holding Co dived 8.7 percent, the steepest decliner of the day.

Mirroring the day’s upswing, the market spread was heavily skewed towards the winners. 71 stocks advanced whereas 21 closed lower. Of the 124 counters active on Wednesday, 32 closed flat. 3,787 deals worth KD 10.9 million were transacted — 62.2 percent surge in value from the day before.

National Industries Group was unchanged at KD 0.108 off early lows and Kuwait Cement Co too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.360. RISCO paused at KD 0.305 whereas Gulf Cable and Boubyan Petrochemicals Co added 10 fils each.

Soared

Jazeera Airways shed 10 fils to close at KD 0.780 and ALAFCO clipped 2 fils. Humansoft Holding Co soared 50 fils with thin trading while Jeeran Holding and PAPCO were up 2 fils each. Mashaer Holding Co gave up 5 fils to end at 95 fils.

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co inched 0.5 fils up while KGL Logistics Co and Zima Holding Co took in 2 fils each. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) was unchanged at KD 1.760 and Safat Energy Holding Co Company followed suit.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank of Kuwait rose 2 fils to 208 fils while Ahli United Bank climbed 10 fils to KD 0.430. Commercial Bank of Kuwait and Al Ahli Bank were not traded during the session

NBK closed 10 fils up at KD 0.680. The bank has logged a net profit of KD 282.16 million and earnings per share of 56 fils in the year ending Dec 31, 2015 as against net profit of KD 261.80 million and earnings per share of 53 fils in the year before. The Board of Directors has recommended 30 percent cash dividends and 5 pct bonus shares.

Kuwait International Bank was flat at KD 0.190 while Burgan Bank closed 10 fils up at KD 0.310. Warba Bank edged 2 fils higher.

Boubyan Bank rose 10 fils. The bank has recorded a net profit of KD 35.23 million and earnings per share of 17.09 fils in the year ending Dec 31, 2015 as compared to net profit of KD 28.23 million and earnings per share of 13.7 fils in the year before period. The Board of Directors has recommended 5 pct cash dividends and 5 percent bonus shares

Kuwait Investment Co added 3 fils whereas National Investment Co held steady at 66 fils. International Financial Advisors inched 0.5 fils higher while Securities House Co and Al Mal Investment Co were up 1 fils each. Bayan Investment Co eased 2 fils after trading 1.8 million shares.

Mabanee Co was flat at KD 0.860 and National Real Estate Co pulled 3 fils lower to 84 fils. Tamdeen Real Estate Co gained 10 fils and Alargan International Real Estate Co followed suit.

The market has been volatile so far during the week and has climbed 24 pts in last four sessions. The price index has slid 645 points so far during the month and has slumped 11.5 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news , Injazzat Real Estate Developement Company has clocked a net profit KD 3.07 million and earnings per share of 9.2 fils in 2015, rising sharply from net profit of KD 1.51 and earnings per share of 4.5 fils in the same period last year. The BOD has recommended 5 pct cash dividends.

Al-Mowasat Health Care Co has posted a net profit of KD 3.34 million and earnings per share of 32.89 fils in the year ending Dec 31, 2015 as against net profit of KD 2.005 million and earnings per share of 19.73 fils in the same period last year. The Board of Directors has recommended 15 percent cash dividend.

Al-Enmaa Real Estate Co has posted a net profit of KD 4.38 million and earnings per share of 9.73 fils for the year ending Dec 31, 2015 as compared to net profit of KD 3.36 million earnings per share of 7.47 fils in the year before.

Gulf Insurance Group has been granted the approval by Capital Markets Authority on Jan 7, 2016 to buy back or sell a maximum of 10 percent of its shares for 6 months from date of the approval.

Al Safat Real Estate Co has incurred a net loss of KD 53,673 and loss per share of 0.221 fils in the period ending Oct  31, 2015 as compared to net profit of KD 96,933 and earnings per share of 0.40 fils in the same period of 2014.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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