KSE climbs 40.09 points as volume ticks higher
Wataniya Telecom jumps 80 fils; Agility flat
KUWAIT CITY, Nov 27: Kuwait stocks rebounded on Wednesday, stemming the two-day decline. The index rallied 40.09 pts to 7838.2 points helped by speculative buying in select counters. Most of the blue chips closed higher whereas selling continued to weigh on some of the mid and low caps.
The KSX 15 gauge climbed 8.91 points to 1080.69 points taking the 2013 gains to 71 points whereas weighted index was up 3.71 pts at 458.72 points. The volume turnover meanwhile rose 14.35 percent to 269.40 million after shrinking in the previous session.
KSE, after posting hefty gains in October, is witnessing a corrective phase from the start of the month even as the third quarter earnings announcements is nearing the end without making a significant impact on the trading floor.
The sectors closed mostly in the green zone. Basic materials outshone the rest with 1.41 percent gain whereas consumer goods shed 0.87 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, real estate garnered the highest market share of 41.10 percent while real estate came in next with 35.70 pct.
Boubyan Petrochemical soared 40 fils to KD 0.620 recouping the losses in the previous session and National Industries Group, the flagship company of the Kharafi Group, added 4 fils on back of 3.57 million shares. Burgan Well Drilling Co climbed 8 fils to settle at KD 0.238.
Gulf Petroleum Investment Co rose 4 fils on back of 6.53 million shares while NICBM gained 6 fils. Hits Telecom Holding Co climbed 5 fils after clocking over 6 million shares and KGL Logistics Co too was up by same measure to wind up at KD 0.275.
Gains
Among the heavyweights, Zain rose 10 fils to KD 0.690 while Wataniya Telecom jumped 80 fils. Agility however continued to stagnate at KD 0.720 after giving up slight early gains. The stock has added 10 fils from start of the month while year-to-date, it has soared 200 fils.
The market opened on positive note and nudged higher in early trade. The index continued to climb gradually amid modest buying in select counters but retreated slightly past the mid-session. It revved up again in the final minutes to peak at 7840.44 pts and closed with solid gains.
Top gainer of the day, Hits Telecom Co spiked 8.33 pct to 65 fils while Ekttitab climbed 8.06 percent to stand close behind. Safwan Trading Co slumped 8.2 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Abyaar Trading Co topped the volume with 25.64 million shares.
Mirroring the day’s upswing, the winners out led the losers 2 to 1. 65 stocks advanced whereas 29 closed lower. Of the 143 counters active on Wednesday, 49 closed flat. 6370 deals worth KD 30.62 million were transacted - a 12.67 percent rise in value from the day before.
On the downside, Kuwait Portland Cement Co shed 20 fils and United Industries Co ticked 2 fils lower erasing the gains in the day before. Kuwait Resorts Co shaved off 4 fils lower and the counter saw 0.83 million shares change hands.
Metal and Recycling Co was unchanged at KD 0.126 and Kuwait Foundry Co too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.410. The compa- ny has posted a net profit of KD 2.13 million and earnings per share of 13.90 fils in the nine-month period ending Sep 30, 2013.
Kuwait Cement Co was flat at KD 0.395 and Gulf Cable too paused at KD 0.900. Humansoft Holding was up 4 fils at KD 0.240. The company has earned a net profit of KD 3.30 million and earnings per share of 28.93 fils in the first nine months of the year. Equipment Holding Co vacillated in tight range before closing flat at KD 0.162.
Kuwait Food Co (Americana) stagnated at KD 2.460 and Jazeera Airways followed suit to wind up at KD 0.495. The company has posted a net profit of KD 14.06 million and earnings per share of 33.49 fils in the first nine months of 2013.
In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait gave up slight early gains to close unchanged at KD 0.900 while Gulf Bank was up 5 fils at KD 0.385.
Commercial Bank shed 20 fils. The bank has won the central bank’s approval to its request to buy back and sell up to 10% of own issued shares over a period of 6 months.
Stagnated
Ahli United Bank stagnated at KD 0.720 whereas Kuwait International Bank rose 5 fils on back of 2.82 million shares. The lender has posted a net profit of KD 9.29 million and earnings per share of 9.95 fils in the JanuarySeptember period.
Burgan Bank and Kuwait Finance House gained 10 fils each to close at KD 0.570 and KD 0.790 respectively whereas Boubyan Bank did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.560.
International Financial Advisors climbed 6 fils on back of over 10 million shares and National Investment Co ticked 2 fils higher to KD 0.160. KIPCO gained 20 fils whereas KMEFIC edged 2 fils lower. Bayan Investment was down 4 fils at KD 0.128 and the counter saw 3.35 million shares change hands.
Kuwait Finance and Investment Co took in 2 fils and KAMCO climbed 6 fils to KD 0.128. The stock has retreated 6 fils from start of the month and is up by same measure year-to-date. Ekittatab Holding Co rose 5 fils whereas Noor Financial Investment closed flat.
Salhia Real Estate Co gained 10 fils and Mabanee Co jumped 20 fils to KD 1.140. Ajial Real Estate and Entertainment Co was up 10 fils at KD 0.222 with thin volume.
The bourse has mixed so far during the week and has eased 3 points in last four sessions. The index has slid 108 points from start of the month and is trading over 32 percent higher year-todate. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, Automated Systems announced has earned KD 1.45 million in the ninemonth period ending Sep 30, 2013 while earnings per share stood at 36.27 fils. This compares with KD 4.01 million net profit and 100.26 fils EPS in the same period last year.
ACICO Industries has logged net profit KD 4.04 million earnings per share of 16.33 fils in the first ninemonths of the year, up from KD 2.33 million profit and earnings per share of 9.42 fils in the 9M of 2012.
Kuwait National Cinema has notched a net profit of KD 6.13 million earnings per share of 61.74 fils in the nine-month period ending September 2013, soaring from KD 4.73 million profit and earnings per share of 47.43 fils in the 9M period of 2012.
Refrigeration Ind. and Storage has posted a net profit of KD 2.50 million and clocked an earnings per share of 28.25 fils in the nine month period ending Sept 30, 2013 . This compares with KD 2.24 million profit and earnings per share of 25.39 fils in the same period last year.