Kuwait index ‘lifted’ by FTSE hopes; volume up – Agility gains 15 fils; Zain slips

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KUWAIT CITY, Sept 5: Kuwait stocks pulled higher on Tuesday as it re-opened after the five-day break. The price index climbed 28.46 points to 6,920.56 points buoyed by FTSE inclusion hopes and survey report showing rising investors’ bullishness over Kuwait shares.

The KSX 15 gauge rose 7.18 pts to 992 pts while weighted index was up 1.64 pts at 432.21 points. The volume turnover meanwhile ticked up after falling marginally in the last session. 87.22 million shares changed hands — a 2.9 pct rise from the previous close.

The sectors ended mostly in the green. Consumer services outshine the rest with 1.20 pct gain whereas technology dropped 1.27 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume financial services mustered the highest market share of 33 pct and real estate trailed with 28.45 pct contribution.

Among the standout performers, Burgan Bank jumped 16 fils to 376 fils while Kuwait Finance House rallied 4 fils on back of 3.7 million shares. KIPCO was up 3 fils at 355 fils partly recouping the losses in the last session.

Zain fell 2 fils to 497 fls after trading 3.6 million shares and Ooredoo tumbled 69 fils to KD 1.151 taking year’s losses to 49 fils. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) inched 1 fil up and Agility climbed 15 fils to 890 fils.

National Bank of Kuwait rose 3 fils on back of over 3 million shares and Warba Bank closed flat. The bank’s Q2 profit soared 860.6 percent year-on-year to KD 1.22 million from Q2 OF 2016. In the January-June period, profits clocked KD 2.52 million.

The market opened weak and rose sharply in early trade. The main index scaled the day’s highest mark of 6,929.3 points amid spurt in buying and drifted south thereafter. It dipped further half way into the session and clawed back to close with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, KFIC jumped 7.53 percent to 50 fils and Sanam Real Estate Co climbed over 7 pct to stand next. Al Eid slumped 11.11 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and AUB topped the volume with over 12 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s upswing, the winners vastly outnumbered the losers. 64 stocks advanced whereas 43 closed lower. Of the 127 counters active on Tuesday, 20 closed flat. 3,047 deals worth KD 18.29 million were transacted — a 8.4 pct rise in value from the day before.

National Industries Group ticked 1 fil up to 143 fils while Gulf Cable and Equipment Holding eased 1 fil each. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co took in 1 fil and Kuwait Foundry Co added 2 fils.

Kuwait Food Co (Americana) fell 5 fils to KD 1.995 and NICBM shed 20 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co rose 6 fils to 640 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co added 5 fils. Kuwait National Cinema Co stood pat at KD 1.350 off steep early losses.

Paused

Jazeera Airways gained 5 fils whereas ALAFCO paused at 378 fils off early lows. Educational Holding Group gave up 2 fils while Automated Systems Co dipped 8 fils to 162 fils.

Humansoft Holding inched 1 fil up and Napesco gained 19 fils. The company’s second quarter profits slid 26.8 pct to KD 1.73 million from same period in year before. During the first half, profits rose 6.9 percent to KD 4.04 million.

Mezzan Holding jumped 20 fils and ACICO Industries took in 2 fils. The company has posted a profits of KD 745,000 for the second quarter of 2017, a 35.8 pct drop from same period last year. In the first half, the earnings dipped 7.8 percent to KD 4.62 million.

Kuwait Cement Co was unchanged at 420 fils and Kuwait Portland Cement slipped 5 fils to 960 fils. Kuwait Gulf Links Transport Co inched 0.5 fil higher and KGL Logistics clipped 0.5 fil.

Combined Group Contracting Co was up 2 fils at 550 fils and AWJ Holding ticked 0.1 fil higher. KPPC was flat at 51.6 fils and Eyas For Higher and Technical Education soared 25 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank was flat at 240 fils and Commercial Bank of Kuwait trimmed 1 fil. Al Ahli Bank was down 4 fils at 305 fils erasing last session’s gains.

Kuwait International Bank dialed up 2 fils and Al Mutahed closed 2 fils down at 424 fils. Boubyan Bank held ground at 452 fils after vacillating earlier in the session.

National Investment Co fell 2 fils to 113 fils and Kuwait Investment Co paused at 107 fils with thin trading. International Financial Advisors took in 1.5 fils and Coast Investment Co trimmed 0.8 fil. Securities House Co gave up 0.6 fil.

Bayan Investment Co rose 1.7 fils to 50.2 fils while KMEFIC and Noor Financial Investment Co took in 1 fil each. KFIC added 3.5 fils and Sokouk Holding closed 0.3 fil higher a 50.3 fils.

Amwal Investment inched 1.3 fils up and Al Imtiaz climbed 3 fils to 179 fils. Unicap dialed up 0.8 fil and Ahleia Insurance Co slid 25 fils. Kuwait Insurance Co was up 8 fils at 293 fils.

Mabanee Co eased 1 fil whereas United Real Estate Co and Mazaya stood pat at 101 fils and 114 fils respectively. AREEC dropped 9 fils and National Real Estate Co dialed up 2 fils.

The market was mixed during last week. The main index closed lower in three of the four sessions and added 6 points week-on-week. 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, 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.

Gulf Insurance Group’s earnings dived 27.6 pct year-on-year during the second quarter to KD 2.77 million. During the first six months of 2017, the profits dropped 21.6 percent to KD 5.59 million.

National International Holding Co recorded a 66.2 percent dip in the second quarter profit to KD 828,500 from same period last year. In the first half of 2017, the profits tumbled 56 percent to KD 1.2 million.

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.

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 percent to KD 32.32 million.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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