Wataniya Telecom climbs 40 fils; NBK retreats
KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait stocks surged past the 6,000 mark on Tuesday to hit a five-month high. The index jumped 63.5 points, a fresh multi-month high, helped mostly by small and mid caps even as some of the heavyweights saw a pull back on profit taking. The sentiment was markedly bullish, tracking the strong gains in the GCC bourses.
The market wound up at 6,009.50 points extending the gains to the fourth straight session while the weighted index inched 0.88 points lower to 406.11. The volume turnover soared a two-year high after increasing in last 8 sessions. A whopping 820,255 million shares changed hands - up 38.2 percent from the day before.
Industrials saw strong momentum during the day. Sector heavyweight, National Industries Group climbed 10 fils on back of 8.12 million shares to settle at KD 0.224 and Kuwait Portland Cement climbed 30 fils to KD 0.730. Kuwait Foundry Co rose 15 fils and Kuwait Pipes added 4 fils to close at KD 0.126.
Wataniya Telecom soared 40 fils to KD 2.020 after stagnating on Monday while Zain pulled 20 fils lower erasing the gains in the previous session and the counter saw 2.65 million shares change hands. The telecom service provider has posted a net profit of $1.03 billion in 2011. Agility was down 10 fils at KD 0.375.
Jazeera Airways rose 15 fils to KD 0.460 and Kuwait Food Co (Americana) gained 20 fils to end at KD 1.440. The stock had shed 40 fils during January and is unchanged from start of the month.
Eased
On the downside, Kuwait Cement Co eased 10 fils and National Industries Co was down 15 fils at KD 0.260. IFA Hotels and Resorts fell 5 fils and Credit Rating and Collection Co slid 20 fils to KD 0.120. Kuwait Gulf Links edged 2 fils lower to KD 0.106 after trading 2.78 million shares and Credit Rating and Collection Co shed 20 fils.
The market opened positive and rose sharply in early trade as investors chased select shares.
The index moved sideways from almost an hour before resuming the upward climb and crossed the 6000 mark before winding up at the day's highest level.
Top gainer of the day, National Ranges Co (Mayadeen) spiked 20 percent to 15 fils while Investors Holding Group soared 17.31 percent to stand next. Tahssilat slid 14.28 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, while Gulf Finance House topped the volume with 67.28 million shares.
Reflecting the day's gain, the winners out led the losers by a wide margin. 72 stocks advanced while 23 closed lower. Of the 88 counters active on Tuesday, 27 closed unchanged. 9,006 deals worth KD 61.36 million were transacted -- a12.4 percent increase in value from the day before.
"Historically, trading and speculation on small-cap companies start in the first quarter," Reuters quoted Talal Al-Hunaif, senior investment analyst at Coast Investment and Development Company. "Companies start afresh in the beginning of the year to boost their stock portfolios."
In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait shed 20 fils to KD 1.160 after stagnating in the previous session while Gulf Bank held the ground unchanged at KD 0.490 with a volume turnover of 2.03 million shares.
Kuwait International Bank ticked 2 fils higher while Commercial Bank of Kuwait and Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the session. The lender has logged net profit of KD 50.3 million in 2011, while the earnings per share clocked 35 fils. The Board of Directors has recommended a cash dividend of 15% and 5% bonus shares.
Stagnant
Al Ahli United Bank was stagnant at KD 0.900 and Burgan Bank followed suit. Kuwait Finance House slipped 10 fils after trading 2.04 million shares. The lender's subsidiary KFH Real Estate Company in Saudi Arabia has exited one of its investments in Saudi Arabia with a total value of SR 1.462 million and achieved net profit of SR 360 million.
National Real Estate Co fell 2fils while United Real Estate climbed 8 fils on back of 8.52 million shares.
Mabanee Co was up 10 fils whereas Tamdeen Real Estate Co shed 6 fils.
United Industries Co was down 3 fils at 95 fils. UIC has posted annual net profit of KD 1,210,449 for 2011 as compared to KD 4,045,494 in the previous year. The earnings per share clocked 2.46 fils as against 10.89 fils in 2010. The Board of Directors recommended no dividend payout.
The bourse has been rallying strongly so far during the week and has spiked 145.5 pts from close of Thursday. The index has gained 140.4 pts from start of the month after posting modest rise in January.
KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, NBK Capital, the investment banking arm of the lender, is selling its stake in Saudi fleet leasing and car rental firm Hanco and may also cash out in an initial public offering for its Turkish investment Kilic Deniz.
Alargan International Real Estate Co announced obtaining the Money Markets Authority to issue bonds up to KD 26.5 Mill divided over 2 portions with a maturity of 5 years.
KSE has lifted the ban on trading of Ekttitab Holding Co.'s share with effect from Jan 4, 2012. This move follows the fall in shareholders' holding following the reduction of capital from KD 51,700,000 to KD 22,862,423.
The bourse authorities have announced suspension of Burgan Well Drilling Co with effect from Jan 2, 2012 for failing to pay annual membership fee for 2011/2012.
KSE listed companies have logged a 3.2 percent decline in third quarter profit to hit KD 923 million, according to Al Joman Center for Economic Consultancy. Investment sector, the biggest decliner, saw a 98 percent drop in earnings followed by the real estate sector which eroded 19 percent.
Al Safat Real Estate Co has posted a net loss of KD 1,435,068 and loss per share of 5.98 fils in the first nine-months of the year as compared to a net loss of KD 745,249 and loss per share of 3.11 fils in the same period last year.
Al Aman Investment Co has posted a net loss of KD 1,581,185 and loss per share 3.3 fils in the nine-month period ending Sep 30. This compares with net profit of KD 738,187 and earnings per share of 1.5 fils in the same period last year.
© Arab Times 2012
