NAPESCO jumps 45 fils; Wataniya Telecom tumbles
Kuwait City: Kuwait stocks pulled higher Sunday, extending the gains to fourth straight session. The index, after a wobbly start, climbed 40.89 pts to 7,980.4 points helped by moderate buying in some of the mid and low caps. The heavyweights however were subdued even as investors await fresh cues. The KSX 15 measure fell 1.15 pts to 1,101.29, almost unchanged from the start of the month, while weighted index inched 0.51 pts lower. The volume turnover meanwhile slipped below the 300 million mark for the first time during the month. 283.64 million shares changed hands -- a 13.33 percent fall from the previous session.
The sectors closed mostly in the green zone. Oil and gas outperformed the rest with 2.27 percent gain whereas telecommunication shed 1.75 percent, the biggest loser of the day. In terms of volume, financial services dominated with 53.26 percent market share while real estate and industrials followed with 27.12 pct and 9.80 percent respectively. Among the notable movers, Automated Systems Co climbed 25 fils with razor thin volume while NAPESCO soared 45 fils to wind up at KD 0.540. Yiaco Medicals rose 15 fils and Boubyan Petrochemical added 10 fils.
Equipment Holding Co rose 6 fils on back of over 3 million shares and United Industries Co was up 4 fils at KD 0.162. Contracting and Marine Services Co and Credit Rating and Collection Co gained 10 fils each while Kuwait Gulf Links ticked 2 fils higher recouping the loss in the last session. Sector major Zain was unchanged at KDD 0.710 whereas Wataniya Telecom plunged 100 fils to KD 1.760 and is trading 580 fils lower year-to-date. Agility held the ground steady at KD 0.740 after gyrating in tight range. The company has won the Capital Markets Authority's approval to buy back or sell up to 10% of own shares over a period of 6 months.
Choppy
The market opened choppy and ticked higher in early trading. The index retreated briefly to hit the day's lowest level of 7,927.73 points and clawed back amid buying in select counters. It continued to edged higher in the second half and closed with impressive gains. Top gainer of the day, Tahssilat rallied 9.8 percent to 112 fils and NAPESCO climbed over 9 pct to stand next. PAPCO slid 7.94 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Inovest topped the volume with 30.44 million shares changing hands. Mirroring the day's gain, the market spread was skewed towards the winners. 62 stocks advanced whereas 40 closed lower. Of the 147 counters active on Sunday, 45 closed flat. 7438 deals worth KD 33.16 million were transacted - a 11.11 percent fall in value from the day before.
"The market has been resilient but people are on the sidelines because of lack of announcements," Reuters quoted Fouad Darwish, head of brokerage at Global Investment House earlier last week. "Lately, liquidity has been an issue but we'll see an increase once the numbers are out." On the flipside, City Group dropped 20 fils to KD 0.455 and NICBM eased 6 fils. IFA Hotels and Resorts fell 10 fils and Gulf Cables followed suit to wind up at KD 0.940. Burgan Well Drilling Co edged 2 fils lower and Metal and Recycling Co was down by same measure. National Industries Group was flat at KD 0.260 off early lows while ACICO Industries fell 5 fils. The company has won the approval of Capital Markets Authority to buy back up to a maximum of 10% of its own shares for 6 months commencing date of approval.
ALAFCO was unchanged at KD 0.285 whereas Jazeera Airways was up 5 fils extending an identical gain in the last session. 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. Kuwait Food Co ( Americana) stagnated at KD 2.460 and Kuwait Foundry Co too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.410. The company 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 paused at KD 0.375.
Gains
In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait was unchanged at KD 0.910 while Gulf Bank fell 5 fils to KD 0.390 after giving up slight early gains. Commercial Bank of Kuwait was down 10 fils at KD 0.710 and Al Ahli Bank was flat at KD 0.495. Kuwait International Bank slipped 5 fils to KD 0.310 whereas Burgan Bank swung 10 fils higher taking the 2013 gains to 60 fils . Boubyan Bank gave up 10 fils to settle at KD 0.600 whereas Ahli United Bank was not traded during the session. Kuwait Finance House did not budge from its earlier close of 0.820. "We are bullish on the stock from a short-term perspective. It could continue to rise and reach our price target of 0.85 dinars and 0.9 dinars in the near term" Global Investment House said in a note. " Traders can maintain a stop loss of 0.76 dinars."
Kuwait Investment Co fell 2 fils and International Financial Advisors followed suit to end at 100 fils. National Investment Co stagnated at KD 0.160 whereas KIPCO gained 10 fils on back of 1.8 million shares. Kuwait Financial Centre rose 4 fils and Al Mal Investment Co ticked 2 fils higher. Bayan Investment and Osoul Investment Co fell 2 fils each whereas KAMCO added 10 fils. KFIC was up 3 fils on back of over 1 million share whereas Mazaya Holding closed flat. The bourse was mixed during the last week. It closed lower in 3 of the 4 sessions in the holiday curtailed week and fell 8 pts week-on-week. The index had gained 34 points so far during the month and is trading over 34 percent higher year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, 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.
Gulf Glass Manufacturing has notched a net profit of KD 1.71 million and earnings per share of 40.54 fils in the January-September period, down from KD 2.19 million profit and earnings per share of 54.44 fils in the same period last year. Al-Tamdeen Investment Co has won the approval of Capital Markets Authority on Nov 6, 2013 to buy back or sell up to a maximum of 10% of its own shares for 6 months. International Petroleum Group has posted a net profit of KD 4.35 million in the first nine months of 2013 while earnings per share came in at 30.10 fils. This compares with KD 5.07 million net profit and earnings per share of 35.10 fils in the same period last year.
© Arab Times 2013
