Kuwait bourse treads water in volatile trade – Ooredoo gains 20 fils; Agility slips

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KUWAIT CITY, Sept 6: Kuwait stocks trod water on Wednesday after last session’s modest rebound on FTSE inclusion hopes. The price index clipped 2.56 pts in volatile session to settle at 6,918 points even as the broader trend remained mixed.

The KSX 15 benchmark edged 1.83 pts higher to 993.91 points taking the year’s gains to 108 pts while weighted index added 1.04 points. The volume turnover meanwhile dipped to a one-month low. 52.49 million shares changed hands — down 39.8 percent from the day before.

The sectors closed mixed. Technology outshone the rest with 1.25 percent gain whereas insurance shed 0.86 percent, the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, real estate notched the highest market share of 33.6 percent and financial services was close behind with 31.6 pct contributions,

In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait climbed 6 fils on back of 2.9 million shares extending last session’s gains and Kuwiat Finance House took in 2 fils with a volume of over 2 million. KIPCO was up 5 fils at 360 fils and is down 140 fils year-to-date.

Zain dialed up 2 fils and Ooredoo gained 20 fils partly recouping Tuesday’s losses. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) gave up 2 fils and Agility was down 4 fils at 886 fils.

Commercial Bank rose 3 fils and Gulf Bank fell 2 fils to 238 fils. The bank has registered a 12.3 pct rise in the second quarter profits to KD 13.4 million from same period last year. During the first half profits was up 10 percent to KD 22.76 mln. The market opened firm and ticked up in early trade. The main index scaled the day’s highest mark of 6,929.15 pts and drifted sideways briefly. It headed south thereafter as sentiment turned negative and bottomed at 6,880.54 points past the mid-session. It rebounded in the second half and pared back most of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Marakez jumped 10.68 pct to 49.7 fils and NICBM climbed 10.61 pct to stand close behind. KCPC slumped 14.5 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Kuwait Real Estate Co topped the volume with over 5 million shares.

The market spread was slightly skewed towards the losers. 51 stocks advanced whereas 47 closed lower. Of the 120 counters active on Wednesday, 22 closed flat. 2,366 deals worth KD 9.65 million were transacted — a 47.2 pct dip in value from the day before.

National Industries Group was flat at 143 fils and Kuwait Foundry Co too did not budge from its earlier close of 300 fils. Gulf Cable ticked 1 fil up to 501 fils while Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co trimmed 1 fil.

Kuwait Food Co (Americana) rose 4 fils to KD 1.999 and ACICO Industries inched 1 fil up to 268 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co gained 5 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co dipped 7 fils to 349 fils.

Jazeera Airways climbed 5 fils extending an identical gain in the day before while ALAFCO paused at 378 fils. The company’s earnings surged 49 pct to KD 5.78 million in third quarter ended 30 June from same period last year.

Educational Holding Group added 4 fils whereas Kuwait Cable Vision Co stood pat at 35 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co trimmed 0.8 fil and KGL Logistics dialed up 0.4 fils. Gulf Finance Co was up 5 fils at 75 fils.

UPAC jumped 15 fils to 730 fils and Human Soft Holding was flat at KD 4.100. 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 of 2017, the earnings rose 17.3 percent to KD 13.17 million.

Eyas For Higher and Technical Training was unchanged at 880 fils and IFA Hotels and Resorts scaled 15 fils. OSOS dialed up 2 fils and AWJ Holding ticked 0.1 fil into green. Mezzan Holding eased 1 fil to 869 fils.

In the banking sector, Al Mutahed gained 6 fils and Kuwait International Bank held ground at 245 fils after vacillating narrowly earlier in the session. Boubyan Bank was down 3 fils at 449 fils.

Burgan Bank eased 1 fil to 375 fils and Warba Bank followed suit to settle at 265 fils. Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the session.

Kuwait Investment Co took in 1 fil with razor thin trading while International Financial Advisors trimmed 0.8 fil. National Investment Co held ground at 113 fils and Coast Investment Co eased 0.4 fil to 44.6 fils.

Bayan Investment Co and Arzan Investment added 0.2 fil each while Osoul Investment Co paused at 62 fils. Securities House Co inched 0.1 fil up and KMEFIC gave up 1 fil.

Sokouk fell 1.3 fils to 49 fils while UNICAP and Noor Financial Investment Co trimmed 0.1 fil each. Amwal Investment Co took in 1 fil and Al Imtiaz clipped 2 fils. Kuwait Insurance Co dived 18 fils to 275 fils.

National Real Estate Co and Salhiya Real Estate Co were unchanged at 123 fils and 269 fils respectively whereas Kuwait Real Estate Co edged 0.6 fil into green. United Real Estate Co gave up 2 fils and Mabanee stood pat at 790 fils.

The market has been mixed so far during the week and has climbed 26 points in last two sessions. It had gained 43 pts during whole of August and is trading 20 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Aayan Leasing and Investment posted losses of KD 390,000 during the second quarter as against a loss of KD 235,000 in the same period last year. During the first half , the company’s earnings soared 544.2 percent year-on-year to KD 4.67 million.

Kuwait Hotels’ second quarter profits jumped by 72.5 pct to KD 15,370 in as compared to KD 55,820 in the same period a year ago. During the first half of 2017, the earnings slid by 71.5 percent to KD 152,870 from the same period last year.

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.

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.

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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