Kuwait stocks edge up in volatile trade

Gulf Bank climbs 8 fils; Humansoft tumbles

KUWAIT CITY, May 15: Kuwait stocks trod higher on Tuesday stemming the two-day pullback. The All Shares Index rose 7.87 points in volatile session to 4,811.91 pts helped by some of the mid-caps even as the overall mood remained soggy.

The Premier Market climbed 16.11 points to 4,780.63 pts while Main Market was down 6.99 pts trimming the month’s gains to 33 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile swelled for the second straight session. Over 53 million shares changed hands — up 20.7 pct from the day before.

The sectors closed mostly in the green turf. Oil and gas outpaced the rest with 2.9 percent gain whereas consumer services shed 0.58 pct, the worst performer of the day. Volume wise, financial services cornered the highest market share of 34 percent and banks followed with 30 percent contribution.

Among the individual performers, Gulf Bank climbed 8 fils to 258 fils on back of 1.5 million shares whereas Mabanee too nearly recouped last session’s losses with a 8 fils jump to 258 fils. Jazeera Airways was up 12 fils at 730 fils and NAPESCO rallied 20 fils.

Zain dialed up 2 fils on back of 1.5 million shares and Ooredoo ticked 1 fils into red. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) dipped 16 flls to 703 fils and Agility added 4 fils after trading over 1 million shares.

National Bank of Kuwait took in 2 fils and Commercial Bank of Kuwait closed flat. The bank’s first quarter profits soared by a whopping 1,166.5 percent year-on-year to KD 10.07 and earnings per share clocked 6.2 fills.

The market opened flat and moved sideways in early trade. The index headed south as sentiment turned weak and plumbed the day’s lowest level of 4,761 points almost half way into the session. It clawed back thereafter and dipped sharply again in the final minutes before closing with small gains.

Top gainer of the day, Madar Finance and Investment vaulted 18.7 pct to 52 fils and Asiya jumped 17.5 pct to stand close behind. Al Rai Media Group tumbled 23 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Ahli United Bank topped the volume with 4.9 million shares.

Reflecting the day’s gains, the market spread was skewed towards the winners. 57 stocks advanced whereas 33 closed lower. Of the 116 counters active on Tuesday, 26 closed flat. 2,622 deals worth KD 9.5 mln were transacted — a 33.9 pct surge in value from the day before.

National Industries Group rose 3 fils to 163 fils on back of over 4 million shares and Mezzan Holding was up 5 fils at 715 fils. Boubyan Petrochemical Co gained 10 fils to close at 850 fils and Al Qurain Petrochemical was up 4 fils at 346 fils.

Kuwait Foundry Co and Gulf Cable were unchanged at 247 fils and 390 fils respectively whereas Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co gave up 2 fils. Equipment Holding Co slipped 1.5 fils to 27.5 fils and KPPC inched 0.4 fil higher.

Scaled

Kuwait Portland Cement scaled 9 fils and ACICO Industries swung 10 fils into green. Educational Holding Group gained 11 fils whereas Humanosft Holding extended last session’s losses with a 59 fils dip to KD 3.601. NICBM was up 5 fils at 175 fils.

Automated Systems Co gained 11 fils and KCPC climbed 11 fils to 181 fils. Kuwait and Gulf Link eased 1 fil to 101 fils and KGL Logistics trimmed 0.3 fil.

Combined Group Contracting dialed down 2 fils. UPAC closed 3 fils higher at 693 fils. YIACO Medical clipped 2 fils and Inovest edged 0.4 fil lower. ALAFCO held ground at 358 fils.

In the banking sector, Kuwait Finance House ticked 1 fil higher to 523 fils on back of over 1 million shares and Kuwait International Bank stood pat at 220 fils. Warba Bank took in 1 fil before closing at 240 fils.

Burgan Bank ticked 1 fil higher and Boubyan Bank gave up 4 fils to close at 482 fils. AlMutahed dialed up 2 fils and Al Ahli Bank sank 24 fils to 315 fils erasing last session’s gains.

KIPCO eased 1 fil to 249 fils while Securities House Co and KFIC were unchanged at 46 fils and 44.5 fils respectively. Coast Investment Co rose 0.4 fil to 32.4 fils and Kuwait Investment Co inched 1 fil into green. Arzan fell 2 fils to 28 fils.

Bayan Investment Co tripped 0.6 fil and Al Mal investment Co clipped 0.2 fil before closing at 19 fils. Osoul Investment took in 2,2 fils and UNICAP ticked 1 fil higher. Al Deera Holding stood pat at 20.4 fils and Sokouk Holding took in 1 fil.

Noor Financial Investment Co rose 1.5 fils to 48.3 fils and Amwal Investment Co limped 1.8 fils higher. Al Imtiax added 2 fils whereas Kuwait Insurance Co and Wethaq Takaful paused at 256 fils and 27.2 fils respectively.

National Real Estate Co gained 6 fils while Kuwait Real Estate added 0.6 fil before settling at 46 fils. Salhiya Reall Estate and International Resorts Co stalled at 335 fils and 25 fils respectively whereas Mazaya Holding trimmed 0.2 fil. Arkan was up 3 fils at 78 fils.

The market has been downbeat so far during the week slipping 17 points in last three sessions but has gained 12 pts from start of the month. Boursa Kuwait, with 176 listed stocks, is the second largest market in the region.

In the bourse related news, Mabanee Co has registered a marginal 0.91% year-on-year rise in profits first quarter profits to KD 12.17 million as against KD 12.06 million during first three months of 2017. Earnings per share stood at 12.42 fils. Total assets swelled by 12.9 pct to KD 815.9 million by the end of March 2018.

Al Ahleia Insurance’s profits has recorded a 1.5 pct drop to KD 2.84 million during the first quarter of 2018 compared to KD 2.88 m for the same period last year. Operational income rose by 17 percent to KD 23.67 mln.

Boubyan Petrochemical has acquired 1.06 million shares in Educational Holding Group for KD 0.308 per share, for a total value of about KD 327,200 taking the total stake to 82.52% from 82.09 pct,

Independent Petroleum Group (IPG) has registered a 26.7 pct jump in profits to KD 2.18 million during the first quarter of 2018 compared to the same period of 2017. Earnings per share stood at 12.03 fils as against 11.58 fils in first quarter of last year.

Educational Holding Group has incurred a loss of KD 2.66 million during the first six months that ended on Feb 28, 2018 as compared to profits of KD 3.18 million in the corresponding period last year. The operating profits stood at KD 3.77 million, a 17% higher increase for the same period in 2017.