Safwan vaults 50 fils; Zain ends flat

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 07

Kuwait stocks edged higher Monday, extending the gains to second straight session. The index rose 9.52 pts in lackluster pre-Eid trading to close at 7664.59 points. Banks and most of the other heavyweights were muted even as the investors await the quarterly results. Some of the mid and low caps however shined on speculative buying. The KSX 15 benchmark eased 2.61 pts to 1088.01 points and has rallied almost 80 points in 2013 while the weighted index inched 0.47 points lower. The volume turnover meanwhile surged past the 400 million mark to hit the month's highest level. 474.12 million shares changed hands -- a 34.74 percent increase from Sunday. The sectors closed mixed. Real estate outpaced the rest with 0.89 percent increase while basic materials and insurance shed 0.39 percent each. In terms of volume, financial services dominated with 57.70 percent market share while real estate and industrials followed with 23.09 percent and 9.83 percent respectively.

Among the notable gainers, Independent Petroleum Group climbed 15 fils to KD 0.365 and Safwan Trading and Contracting Co soared 50 fils adding to an identical gain in the day before and the counter saw razor thin volume. Automated Systems Co was up 10 fils at KD 0.430. United Industries Co rose 4 fils and National Industries Co dialed up 5 fils to settle at KD 0.255. Equipment Holding Co climbed 6 fils while Contracting and Marine Services Co was up 4 fils. National Industries Group, the Kharafi Group's flagship company, gained 4 fils on back of 0.59 million shares.

Retreated
Bourse heavyweight, Zain was flat at KD 0.710 off early lows and Wataniya Telecom too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 1.920 and stock has retreated 420 fils from start of the year. Agility rose 10 fils on back of 11.26 million shares to end at KD 0.700. The market opened soft and moved sideways in early trade. The index continued to drift along the opening level and slipped to day's lowest level of 7645.54 pts It revved up slightly thereafter to peak at 7682.79 pts amid brief spurt in buying before paring back some the gains at close. Top gainer of the day, Safwan Trading and Contracting Co spiked 8.62 percent to KD 0.630 and First Dubai climbed 7.65 percent to stand next. Remal shed 6.41 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, and Gulf Finance House topped the volume with 181.55 million.

Despite the day's modest uptick, the losers outled the winners. 38 stock advanced whereas 45 closed lower. Of the 135 counters active on Monday, 52 closed flat. 9015 deals worth KD 41.68 million were transacted -- a 39.16 percent surge in value from the day before. RISCO was flat at KD 0.305 whereas Metal and Recycling Co ticked 2 fils higher to KD 0.124. The company has chalked a net loss of KD 24,189 and loss per share 0.32 fils in the first six months of 2013 as against profit of KD 104,593 and earnings per share of 1.39 fils in H1 of 2012.

KGL was unchanged at KD 0.108 and KGL Logistics Co followed suit to wind up at KD 0.270. The company is planning to hike its capital by 65 percent from KD 33,396,000 to KD 55,103,400 by offering 217,074,000 shares for subscription with a nominal value of 100 fils/ share.

ALAFCO was flat at KD 0.280 and Jazeera Airways too held steady at KD 0.500 Kuwait Food Co ( Americana) paused at KD 2.340. The stock has added 10 fils so far during the month while year-to-date it has rallied 600 fils. Burgan Well Drilling Co stagnated at KD 0.238.

On the downside, United Projects Group dived 40 fils and Kuwait Co For Process Plant Construction and Contracting Co slipped 25 fils to close at KD 0.365. Kuwait Foundry Co was down 10 fils erasing the gains in the day before.

Kuwait Cement Co paused at KD 0.365 and Gulf Cables followed suit. The firm has earned KD 8.46 million and chalked earnings per share of 40 fils in 2013 H1 as compared with KD 9.83 million profit and earnings per share of 47 fils in the year earlier period.

Unchanged
In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait fell 10 fils to KD 0.910 and Gulf Bank was unchanged at KD 0.395 and the stock has slipped 25 fils from start of the year. Commercial Bank of Kuwait and Al Ahli Bank were not traded during the day. Ahli United Bank was flat at KD 0.690 off early highs and Kuwait International Bank followed suit. The lender has been granted permission by Central Bank of Kuwait to extend the period to buy back or sell up to 10 percent of own issued shares over an additional 6 months.
Burgan Bank stagnated at KD 0.590 and Kuwait Finance House too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.780. Boubyan Bank paused at KD 0.600 after eking modest gains in the day before. International Financial Advisers inched 1 fils lower and saw a volume of over 26 million whereas Kuwait Investment Co was unchanged at KD 1.28. The company has been granted approval by Capital Markets Authority to buy back up to a maximum of 10 percent of its own shares for 6 months.

National Investment Co stagnated at KD 0.156 whereas KIPCO was down 10 fils at KD 0.590. KIPCO fell 2 fils to KD 0.590 and Kuwait Financial Centre followed suit. Al Mal Investment Co and Bayan Investment too were down 2 fils each whereas Osoul Investment was up 4 fils. The bourse has been trending higher so far during the week and has gained 40 pts in last three sessions. The index has retreated 102 points from start of the month and is trading over 29 percent higher year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region. In the bourse related news, IFA Hotels and Resorts Co. is seeking to hike its capital from KD 45,388,200 to KD 63,543,420 commencing from October 1 to October 21, 2013. The Shares shall be issued for cash at a nominal value of 100 fils plus a premium fees of 80 fils. KAMCO has posted a net profit of KD 1.46 million earnings per share of 6.35 fils in the six month period ending June 30, 2013 rebounding from net loss of KD 2.89 million and loss per share of 12.14 fils in the same period last year.

Securities Group has earned KD 155,245 in the quarter ending June 30, 2013 and earnings per share of 0.61 fils rebounding from KD 1.88 million net loss and loss per share of 7.39 fils in 2012 Q2. Al-Enmaa Real Estate has posted a net profit of KD 1.21 million and chalked earnings per share of 2.7 fils in the 9 month period ending July 31, 2013. This compares with KD 740,814 earnings and 1.6 fils EPS in the year before period.

© Arab Times 2013