Kuwait gains in choppy trade; volume edges up

Mabanee Co rallies 14 fils; Zain flat

KUWAIT CITY, July 26: Kuwait stocks headed north on Wednesday extending its gains to fifth straight session buoyed by firming oil prices . The price index rose 13.23 points in choppy trade to 6,845.76 pts led by strong gains in select counters even as the heavyweights remained largely subdued.

The KSX 15 fell 0.65 pts to 952.95 points while weighted index edged 0.57 points higher. The volume turnover meanwhile swelled after Tuesday’s pullback to hit a fresh multi-month high. 148.2 million shares changed hands — a 17 pct rise from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in the green turf. Insurance sector outshone the rest with 2 pct gain whereas technology shed 1 pct, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, real estate mustered the highest market share of 41 percent and financial services followed with 37.7 pct contribution.

In the individual performers, Mabanee Co extended last session’s gains with 14 fils rally to 804 fils while NAPESCO soared 48 fils to 950 fils with thin trading. Commercial Bank continued Tuesday’s robust gains with a 2 fils uptick .

Zain was flat at 455 fils and off early lows after trading 1.4 million shares and Ooredoo pulled up from previous session’s trough to close 18 fils higher. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) inched 1 fil up and Agility stood pat at 847 fils.

National Bank of Kuwait eased 1 fil to 699 fils and KFH closed flat. The bank’s profit grew 17.1 percent to KD 43.06 min the second quarter as compared to the same period in the year before.

The market opened weak and rose sharply in early trade. The main index hit the day’s highest level of 6,861.15 pts and traded choppy past the mid-session amid mixed sentiment. It headed lower thereafter to bottom at 6,819.12 points before clawing back in the final minutes to close with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, Tamdeen Investment Co soared 20 pct to KD 2.980 and Warba Insurance Co climbed 13.97 pct to 88.9 fils. PAPCO tumbled 20 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Abyaar Real Estate Co topped the volume with 20.6 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s upswing, the winners outnumbered the losers. 60 stocks advanced whereas 50 closed lower. Of the 133 counters active on Wednesday, 23 closed flat. 4395 deals worth KD 16.8 million were transacted — down 31.2 percent in value from the day before.

National Industries Group fell 1 fil to 142 fils and after trading 3.2 million shares and Gulf Cable was up 4 fils at 430 fils. Kuwait Cement Co and NICBM were was flat at 445 fils and 175 fils respectively whereas Kuwait Portland Cement clipped 2 fils.

Jazeera Airways climbed 7 fils to 505 fils and ALAFCO gave up 5 fils to wind up at 343 fils. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co took in 2 fils and Shuaiba Industrial held ground at 295 fils. Metal and Recycling Co dialed down 1 fil with thin trading.

Kuwait Foundry Co paused at 289 fils and Humansoft Holding dived 50 fils. The company has recorded a 19.9pct rise in second quarter profits to KD 6.03 million from Q2 of previous year.

UPAC plunged 55 fils to 715 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co added 3 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co took in 2 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co was up 3 fils at 351 fils. Educational Holding Group rose 5 fils to 342 fils. OSOS fell 2 fils to 136 fils and AWJ Holding edged 1.7 fils higher. Equipment Holding Co was unchanged at 50.1 fils and Al Rai Media Group tripped 2 fils. Mezzan Holding dipped 16 fils to 890 fils.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank eased 1 fils to 243 fils whereas Al Ahli Bank and Kuwait International Bank stood pat at 320 fils and 244 fils respectively.

Burgan Bank slipped 6 fils to 361 fils and Al Mutahed added 3 fils to close at 418 fils. Boubyan Bank dialed up 2 fils and Warba Bank was up 5 fils at 269 fils.

KIPCO was flat at 375 fils and National Investments Co rose 3 fils. The company has posted a 78.4 pct jump in profits to KD 1.17 million during the second quarter of 2017 from same period last year.

Kuwait Investment Co took in 1.6 fils and International Financial Advisor nudged 1.4 fils into green. Coast Investment Co dialed up 1.9 fils and Securities House Co closed 0.5 fil in green. Al Mal inched 0.2 fil up on back of 1.8 million shares.

KAMCO and Noor Financial Investment Co were unchanged at 72 fils and 51.9 fils whereas Bayan Investment Co trimmed 0.4 fil. UNCAP eased 0.7 fil and Al Salam added 1.7 fils with brisk trading.

KFIC and Osoul Investment clipped 2 fils each while Amwal Investment ended 0.9 fil higher. ALOLA ticked up 0.6 fil and Al Madina gave up 1.2 fils.

Warba Insurance Co gained 10.9 fils and First Takaful Insurance Co dropped 7.4 fils. Wethaq Takaful Insurance Co gained 6 fils.

National Real Estate Co and Salhiya Real Estate Co fell 2 fils each whereas Kuwait Real Estate Co took in 1.6 fils. United Real Estate Co inched 0.1 fil up and Sanam Real Estate Co slipped 5 fils.

The market has been buoyant so far during the week and has gained 64 points in last four sessions. It has advanced 84 points from start of the month and is trading 19.10 pct higher year-to-date. KSE, with 188 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Aqar Real Estate Investment’s second quarter profits surged 27 pct to KD 350,410 mln from same period last year. The revenues rose 23.4 percent to KD 687,320 in the first half while operating revenues climbed 21.6 percent to KD 987,070.

S&P Global Ratings has affirmed “A-/A-2” long- and shortterm counterparty credit ratings on Gulf Bank. The rating agency also revised its outlook on the bank to “positive” from “stable”.

National Real Estate Company’s ordinary general meeting has approved raising its capital to KD 150 million, by issuing 1.5 billion shares at a nominal value of 100 fils each. The company’s current capital stands at KD 98.97 million.

KAMCO has sold a controlling stake worth 25.3 million pounds in a British property leased to Amazon UK Services Ltd. The deal will results in a drop of 56 million pounds while and the liabilities will see a 56.5 million dip.

Educational Holding Group has posted a 13 pct drop in profits in the quarter ended 31 May 2017. The profits totaled KD 1.14 million as against KD 1.31 million in the same period last year. In the nine-month period ending May 30, the earnings grew 22 pct to KD 4.32m.

Fitch Ratings upgraded GFH Financial Group’s long-term issuer default rating (IDR) from “B-” to “B”, with a “Positive” outlook.