Kuwait stocks kick off week with modest rise – KFH rallies 11 fils; Ooredoo sinks

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KUWAIT CITY, Nov 26: Kuwait stocks headed north on Sunday as it kicked off the week on a firm note. The price index climbed 17.3 pts in lackluster trade to 6,256.67 points paced by banks and other heavyweights even as other counters remained mostly subdued.

The KSE 15 gauge rose 8.9 points to 9,15.2 pts while weighted index was up 2.89 pts at 3,98.88 points. The volume turnover meanwhile saw a modest bounce. 68.6 million shares changed hands- a 28 pct jump from previous session.

The sectors closed mostly in green turf. Telecommunications outpaced the rest with a 1.28 percent gain whereas parallel market shed 0.78 pct, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise, financial market notched the highest market share of 51 pct and banks trailed far behind with 17.4 percent contribution.

Among the prime movers, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait gained 5 fils on back of over 2 million shares to 724 fils and Kuwait Finance House rallied 11 fils with brisk trading. KIPCO took in 2 fils and Jazeera Airways was up 8 fils at 657 fils.

Zain rose 3 fils with a volume of 2.4 million and Ooredoo was down 16 fils at KD 1.060 extending its losing streak. Kuwait Telecommunications Co jumped 23 fils to 729 fils and Agility climbed 22 fils to 766 fils adding to last session’s uptick.

Burgan Bank rose 6 fils and Kuwait International Bank inched 1 fil into red. The bank logged a profit of KD 13.5 million for the third quarter of 2017 while earnings per share reached 14.42 fils.

The market opened weak and pulled higher in early trade amid brief spurt in buying. The price index drifted sideways before scaling the day’s highest level of 6,286 pts and headed south in the second half. It bottomed at 6231 points in the final minutes and clawed back into green zone at close

Top gainer of the day, Al Aqaria soared 20 pct to 30 fils and National International Holding climbed 9.7 pct to stand next. Amwal slid 34.6 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Al Imtiaz topped the volume with 11.6 million shares.

Mirroring the day’s upswing, the market spread was skewed towards the winners. 69 stocks advanced whereas 26 closed lower. Of the 115 counters active on Sunday, 29 closed flat. 2763 deals worth KD 11.17 million were transacted — a 26.4 pct jump in value from the day before.

National Industries Group took in 2 fils on back of 1.4 million shares and Gulf Cable followed suit. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co and Educational Holding Co paused at 208 fils and 302 fils respectively whereas KCPC gained 5 fils.

Kuwait Foundry Co rose 5 fils to 275 fils while Metal and Recycling Co dialed up 1 fil. Boubyan Petrochemical Co climbed 8 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co gave up 6 fils before settling at 320 fils, Equipment Holding Co took in 2.1 fils.

Climbed

Humansoft Holding tumbled 87 fils to KD 3.702 while ACICO Industries climbed 13 fils to 245 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co eased 0.2 fil to 64.8 fils and KGL Logistics trimmed 0.2 fils. Al Rai Media Group was up 6 fils at 109 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank dialed up 2 fils while AlMutahed held ground at 340 fils. Commercial Bank and Al Ahli Bank were note traded during the session.

Kuwait International Bank inched 1 fil into red and Boubyan Bank rose 6 fils to 420 fils. Warba Bank stood pat at 213 fils off slight early highs.

Kuwait Investment Co and International Financial Advisors were unchanged at 112 fils and 29.9 fils respectively whereas National Investment Co edged 0.8 fil higher. Coast Investment Co ticked 0.3 fil up.

Kuwait Financial Center ( Markaz) rose 5 fils to 109 fils while Securities House Co and KFIC took in 0.2 fil each. Ektittab Holding added 1.9 fils whereas Noor Financial Investment Co and Sokouk Holding paused at 57.1 fls and 49 fils respectively.

Tamdeen Investment Co slipped 5 fils to 305 fils and Bayan Investment Co gave up 1.8 fils. Unicap edged 0.5 fil into green and Al Madina fell 0.9 fil to 38 fils.Warba Insurance Co gained 3 fils.

KMEFIC dialed up 1 fil. The company narrowed its losses by 95.5 pct year-on-year to KD 86, 020 in the third quarter of 2017. In the January –September period, the losses shrank by 84.8 percent to KD 492,220, compared to the same period last year.

National Real Estate Co climbed 4 fils to 123 fils and Mabanee Co added 3 fils. The company’s profits dropped 1.6 percent to KD 12.1 million in the third quarter of 2017 from Q3 of 2016. In the first nine months of the year, profits was up 0.74 percent to KD 36.7 million.

Kuwait Real Estate Co took in 0.5 fil and whereas Salhiya Real Estate Co and Mazaya Holding stood pat at 354 fils and 107 fils respectively. Al Aqaria added 5 fils and Remal closed 0.6 fil in green.

The bourse was mostly downbeat during last week. The main index closed lower in four of the five sessions and slid 70 points week-on-week  It has dived 257 points from start of the month and is trading over 8.8 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, NAPESCO posted a 104.4 percent surge to KD 3.96 million in the third quarter profits of 2017 from the same period last year. The company earned KD 8 mnl in the first three quarters – a 39.9 pct rise from KD 5.72 m in the same period last year.

National Industries Group Holding has logged a profit of KD 2.12 million in the third quarter of 2017, rebounding from losses of KD 700,000 in the same period last year. In the first nine months , the profits climbed to KD 7.35 million, as compared to losses of KD 5.06 million in 9M of 2016

Zain’s third quarter earnings dropped 7 percent to nearly KD 40 million, compared to KD 43 million for the same period last year. Revenues amounted to KD 259 million and EBITDA stood at KD 104 million. In the 9M period, profits slipped by 1.6 pct to KD 122 million.

Aqar Real Estate Investments Co’s earnings was down 6.42 pct year-on-year during the third quarter of 2017 to KD 345,140 .In the January-September period, profits rose 11.5 percent to KD 1.03 million. The operating revenues rose 14.6 pct to KD 1.48 million in nine-month period.

Credit Rating and Collection Co’s (Tahssilat) losses widened to KD 269,840 in the third quarter of 2017 from KD 61,020 in the same period last year. During the nine-month period, it logged a profit of KD 830,200 against a loss of KD 291,200 in the same period in 2016.

By John Mathews – Arab Times Staff

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