Kuwait index swings up; sentiment remains tepid – NAPESCO soars 100 fils; KIPCO falls

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KUWAIT CITY, June 7: Kuwait stocks swung higher on Wednesday recouping the two-day fall. The price index climbed 18.57 pts in volatile trade to 6,819.7 points amid bargain buying in select counters.

Most of the banks sagged amid anemic trading volume.

The KSX 15 gauge dipped 6.5 points to 902.76 pts while weighted index was down 2.2 pts at 400.42 points. The volume turnover meanwhile ticked up after Tuesday’s dip. 32.08 million shares changed hands — up 5 pct from the day before.

Sectors closed mostly in the green. Technology outperformed the rest with 5.4 pct gain whereas banks shed 0.74 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services accounted for the highest market share of 36.7 pct while banks followed with 32.7 percent contribution.

In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait dropped 11 fils to 665 fils after trading 1.6 million shares and Gulf Bank was down 3 fils to settle at 236 fils. Investment major KIPCO reversed last session’s gains with a 4 fils fall to 345 fils.

Zain slipped 6 fils to 416 fils with a volume of over 2 million shares and Ooredoo stood pat at KD 1.210 with thin trading. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) climbed 15 fils to 838 fils and Agility was down 4 fils at 738 fils partly erasing Tuesday’s gains.

Kuwait Finance House inched 1 fils higher to 483 fils and Ahli United Bank — Kuwait gave up 4 fils to wind up at 310 fils. The bank’s first quarter profit rose 2.6 pct to KD 16.003 million as against KD 15.59 million in for Q1 of 2016. The operating profit stood at KD 19.67 million.

The market opened firm and headed north in early trade. The price index scaled the day’s highest level of 6,827.47 points and moved flat briefly before pulling back sharply to bottom at 6,764.08 points. It however clawed back thereafter to close with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, Ajwan Gulf Real Estate Co soared 19.97 pct to 88 fils while Automated Systems Co jumped 17.7 percent to stand next. Metal and Recycling Co slid 14.14 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and AUB topped the volume with 4.2 million shares.

Despite the day’s upswing, the losers outnumbered the winners. 32 stocks advanced whereas 41 closed lower. Of the 97 counters active on Wednesday, 24 closed flat. 1,507 deals worth KD 6.6 million were transacted — a 23.2 pct surge in value from the day before.

National Industries Group and Gulf Cable were flat at 108 fils and 420 fils respectively while Eyas rose 3 fils to KD 1.198 . Educational Holding Co paused at 365 fils and KPPC gave up 1.9 fils to settle at 47.1 fils.

Jazeera Airways fell 4 fils to 470 fils and has tumbled 300 fils year-to-date while ALAFCO stood pat at 300 fils. Combined Group Contracting Co gave up 5 fils to closeat 590 fils. Al Safat Energy Holding held ground at 37 fils.

Humansoft Holding paused at KD 3.900 and NAPESCO spiked 100 fils recouping last session’s losses. The company’s first quarter profit surged 62.7% year-on-year to KD 2.31 million as to compared to KD 1.42 million in same period last year.

Climbed

Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co fell 2 fils to 208 fils while Contracting and Marine Services Co inched 1 fils into the green. NICBM climbed 10 fils to 200 fils partly paring Tuesday’s heavy losses.

Mezzan Holding dived 26 fils to 901 fils and Equipment Holding eased 0.3 fils. The company’s first quarter losses narrowed by 12.4 percent to KD 354,460 from KD 404,490 in Q1 of 2016.

KGL Logistics Co inched 0.7 fils higher to 51.9 fils and Al Rai Media Group took in 1 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co dialed down 2 fils whereas Al Qurain Petrochemical Co stood pat at 340 fils.

In the banking sector, Al Ahli Bank was unchanged at 310 fils while Kuwait International Bank and Burgan Bank clipped 2 fils each to close at 245 fils and 320 fils respectively.

Boubyan Bank fell 2 fils to 407 fils and Warba Bank was up 3 fils to wind up at 245 fils. Commercial Bank of Kuwait was not traded during the session.

National Investment Co and Securities Group Co were unchanged at 104 fils and 97 fils respectively whereas Securities House Co edged 0.9 fils into green. KFIC dialed up 0.1 fils to close at 40 fils.

Bayan Investment Co added 0.6 fils to end at 51.4 fils while International Financial Advisors inched 0.2 fils lower. Ektittab Holding Co took in 0.9 fils and Tamdeen Investment Co closed flat at 310 fils.

Noor Financial Investment Co was up 1.5 fils at 52.5 fils while Arzan Investment clipped 1 fils and Coast Investment Co trimmed 1.1 fils before closing at 39.9 fils. Sokouk Holding Co gave up 0.3 fils to close at 48.7 fils.

Mabanee Co took in 1 fils while Mazaya Holding and Abyaar were unchanged at 110 fils and 22.5 fils respectively. National Real Estate Co clipped 2 fils and United Real Estate Co eased 0.4 fils. Kuwait Real Estate Co eased 0.5 fils to 55 fils.

The market has been mixed so far during the week and has added 6 points in last four sessions. It had slumped 60 points during whole of May and is trading 18.64 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Kuwait Finance and Investment (KFIC) rebounded to post a net profit of KD 146,350 in the first three months of 2017, from KD 255,510 loss in first quarter of 2016. Operating income grew 76% year-on-year to reach KD 1.65 million.

Aayan Real Estate has recorded a 164.7 percent jump in its profits to KD 536,890 for the first quarter of 2017 from same period in the year before. During 2016, the profit saw a 1.5% uptick to KD 2.75 million in 2016 from the previous year.

Ooredoo Kuwait has posted 26.6 pct jump in profits during the first quarter of 2017 to KD 12.93 million from KD 10.21 million in same period last year. It had recorded a growth of 75% in profits to KD 46.67 million during 2016.

Mowasat Healthcare has registered a 40.2% increase in net profits in the first quarter of 2017, to reach KD 1.92 million as compared to KD 1.37 million in the year before period.

Al Ahleia Insurance ‘s first quarter net profit dropped by 14.5% in the first to KD 2.88 million from KD 3.37 million in Q1 of 2016. Operational income dipped 39.6 pct to KD 1.58 million National Ranges Company’s (Mayadeen) losses shrank by 18.2 pct in the first quarter of 2017 to KD 642,620 from about KD 785,610 in same period of 2016.

By John Mathews

Arab Times Staff

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