Kuwait bourse treads water; volume surges – Gulf Insurance Group jumps 50 fils; Zain slips

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KUWAIT CITY, Nov 18: Kuwait stocks trod water on Wednesday after heading lower in last two sessions. The price index eased 1.68 pts in sluggish trading to 5,698.1 points even as the board remained largely mixed.

The KSX 15 benchmark dived 7.41 pts to 926.26 points and is unchanged form start of the month while weighted index slipped 2.06 points. The volume turnover meanwhile bounced after hitting the month’s lowest level in the last session. 136.89 million shares changed hands — a 27 pct surge from Tuesday.

The sectors closed mostly mixed. Insurance sector outshone the rest with 1.49 pct gain whereas telecommunications dropped 1.65 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services clocked the highest market share of 54.9 percent while real estate and oil and gas trailed far behind with 17.56 pct and 7 pct contributions respectively.

In the individual shares, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait slipped 10 fils to KD 0.820 after trading 2.3 million shares and Kuwait Finance House was down by same measure to wind up at KD 0.570. Humansoft Holding shed 30 fils whereas Gulf Insurance Group vaulted 50 fils.

Zain fell 5 fils to KD 0.360 with a volume of 1.2 million and has retreated 15 fils from start of the month while Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) slid 40 fils to close at KD 1.020. Kuwait Telecommunications (VIVA) gave up 10 fils to end at KD 0.920 off early highs and Agility held the ground unchanged at KD 0.500.

Investment conglomerate KIPCO was flat at KD 0.600 and KMEFIC inched 0.5 fils into red. The company has logged a net profit of KD 371,587  and earnings per share of 1.42 fils as against a net profit of KD 8,719  and earnings per share of 0.03 fils in the year before period.

The market opened weak and eased further in early trade. The key gauge ticked up and moved sideways before heading south again as selling weighed on select counters. It troughed at 5682.19 points and clawed back most of the losses in the second half.

Top gainer of the day, PAPCO spiked 9.62 pct to 114 fils and Qurain Holding Co climbed 7.69 percent to stand next. Kuwait Cable Vision Co plunged over 9 pct, the steepest decliner of the day, and Manazel topped the volume with 38 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s mood, the losers outnumbered the winners. 32 stocks advanced whereas 49 closed lower. Of the 129 counters active on Wednesday, 48 closed flat. 2962 deals worth KD 10.55 million were transacted – a 27.84 pct jump in value from the day before.

National Industries Group dialed down 2 fils extending an identical fall in the last session and Kuwait Food Co. (Americana) closed flat. The company has clocked a net profit of KD 35.21 million and earnings per share of  90.03 fils in the nine-month period ending Sept 31, 2015.

Steady

 Gulf Cable fell 5 fils to KD 0.390 while Kuwait Portland Cement Co and Kuwait Cement Co were steady at KD 1.140 and KD 0.405 respectively. ACICO Industries Co was unchanged at KD 0.280 and Hilal Cement followed suit to end at 130 fils.

Boubyan Petrochemicals Co dropped 10 fils whereas Independent Petroleum Group Co gained 10 fils. The company. has posted a net profit  of KD 1.599 million in the 9M ended Sep 30, 2015 while earnings per share  came in at 11.05 fils.

ALAFCO was flat at KD 0.220 and Equipment Holding Co inched 1 fils higher to 61 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co took in 0.5 fils and KGL Logistics Co closed 1 fils up at 70 fils. Qurain Petrochemicals Industries Co climbed 4 fils.

Burgan Well Drilling Co added 5 fils while Zima Holding and Gulf Franchising Holding Co rose 4 fils each. Yiaco Medical Co gained 8 fils and Nafais Holding Co climbed 6 fils.

Mezzan Holding shed 20 fils whereas National Petroleum Services Co. bounced 20 fils to KD 0.620. The company has posted a net profit of KD 4.65 million and earnings per share of 83.20 fils in the first nine-months of 2015.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank and Commercial Bank were flat at KD 0.275 and KD 0.510 respectively and Al Ahli Bank followed suit. Ahli United Bank climbed 10 fils and Kuwait International Bank paused at KD 0.230 with a volume of over 1 million.

Burgan Bank was steady at KD 0.390 and Boubyan Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.435. Ithmaar Bank inched 1 fils down and Warba Bank stagnated at KD 0.208.

Kuwait Investment Co dialed up 2 fils and National Investment Co was unchanged at 104 fils off early lows. Securities Group Co dropped 6 fils and Securities House Co edged 1.5 fils into red.

Bayan Investment Co and Osoul Investment inched 1 fils lower while Kuwait Financial Centre clipped 2 fils. Tamdeen Investment Co and Tamdeen Real Estate gained 20 fils each whereas Al Deera Holding closed flat.

National Real Estate Co eased 1 fils with a volume of 1.4 million while Mabanee Co and Al Mazaya Holding Co closed flat.

The bourse has been downbeat so far during the week and has  slid 68 points in last four sessions . It has  dived 77 pts from start of the month and is trading 12.82 pct lower year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Gulf Glass Manufacturing Company has posted a net profit of KD 59,392 and earnings per share of 0.22 fils in the nine-month period ending September 30, 2015 rebounding from a net loss of KD 1,15 million and losses per share of 4.37 fils in the 9M of 2014.

Gulf Glass Manufacturing Company has posted a net profit of KD 59,392 and earnings per share of 0.22 fils in the nine-month period ending September 30, 2015 rebounding from a net loss of KD 1,15 million and losses per share of 4.37 fils in the 9M of 2014.

Abyaar Real Estate Development Co has registered a net profit of KD 6,103 and earnings per share 0.01 fils for the nine-month period ended September 31, 2015 down sharply from net profit of KD 487,234  and earnings per share of 0.44 fils in the same period of 2014.

Tamdeen Real Estate Company as clocked a net profit of over KD 9 million and earnings per share of 22.6 fils in the nine-month period ending September 30, 2015 , climbing from net profit of KD 6.61 million and earnings per share of 16.4 fils in the year before period.

Securities Group Company has recorded a net profit of KD 2.47 million and earnings per share of  9.69 fils in the six-month period ending September 31, 2015 as compared to net profit of KD 2.57 million and earnings per share of  10.09 fils in the year before period.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

This news has been read 6736 times!

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