NBK gains 10 fils; Mabanee falls
KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait stocks nudged higher Sunday after posting strong gains in the last week. The index rose 6.11 pts in volatile trade to close at 7784.67 points helped by speculative buying in select counters. The banking majors closed mostly higher whereas other blue chips sagged on profit booking.
The KSX 15 benchmark slipped 4.63 pts to 1,064.87 points trimming the month's gains to over 12 pts and weighted index edged 1.25 pts lower. The volume turnover meanwhile fell for the fifth straight session. 353.53 million shares changed hands -- a 5.84 pct fall from Thursday. KSE has closed higher in 6 of the last 7 sessions. Sectors closed mixed. Basic materials outpaced the rest with 1.28 pct gain whereas telecommunication shed 1.89 percent, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services notched the highest market share of 41.81 pct while real estate and industrials followed with 34.11 pct and 12.74 percent contributions respectively.
Among notable movers, Boubyan Petrochemical Co climbed 20 fils to KD 0.690 and Qurain Petrochemical rose 8 fils on back of 1.76 million shares. Kuwait Cement Co gained 5 fils while Contracting and Marine Services Co was up 6 fils at KD 0.180. KGL Logistics rose 5 fils with a volume of 1.22 million whereas Mashaer Holding Co jumped 10 fils . Future Communication Co Global added 6 fils and NICBM ticked 2 fils higher to end at KD 0.204. Telecom heavyweight Zain dropped 20 fils to KD 0.630 after clocking a volume of 5.38 million and Wataniya Telecom was down by same measure wiping off the gains in the previous session. Agility too shed 20 fils to close at KD 0.670 and the stock has given up 20 fils from start of the month.
Slipped
The market opened weak and slipped into red in early trade. The index hit the day's lowest level of 7,734.29 pts and rebounded thereafter amid buying in select positions. It reached the opening mark almost half way into the session before retreating again as sentiment weakened. It clawed back again in the final hour and managed to close with meager gains. Top gainer of the day, Housing Finance Co (Iskan) rallied 7.27 percent to 59 fils and Masaken climbed 7.25 percent to stand close behind. Combined Group Contracting Co tumbled 60 fils, the steepest decliner of the day and Gulf Finance House topped the volume with over 45 million shares. Despite the day's uptick, the losers slightly piped the winners. 46 stocks advanced whereas 47 closed lower. Of the 143 counters active on Sunday, 50 closed flat. 7049 deals worth over 32.4 million shares were transacted -- a 20.65 percent fall in value from the day before. On the downside, Salhia Real Estate dropped 15 fils to KD 0.385 and Mabanee Co was down 20 fils at KD 1.160. IFA Hotels and Resorts gave up 5 fils to wind up at KD 0.270 . The company has won the approval of Capital Markets Authority to buy back or sell up to 10% over a period of 6 months.
The Energy House erased 4 fils while Gulf Cable paused at KD 0.800. The company has earned KD 9.06 million and clocked an earnings per share of 43 fils in the first nine-months of 2013 as compared with net profit of KD 10.54 million and earnings per share of 50 fils in the same period last year. Kuwait Gulf Links held steady at KD 0.104 after vacillating in a tight range whereas KGL Logistics Co gained 5 fils on back of 1.22 million shares. Mushrif Trading and Contracting Co slipped 2 fils to KD 0.112 whereas Jazeera Airways paused at KD 0.510 off early lows. In the banking sector, Gulf Bank clipped off 20 fils whereas National Bank of Kuwait was up 10 fils at KD 0.920. The bank has posted a net profit KD 238.13 million and earnings per share of 53 fils in the year ending Dec 31, 2013. The Board of Directors has recommended a 30 pct cash dividend plus 5 percent bonus shares. Commercial Bank of Kuwait rose 10 fils to KD 0.730 whereas Ahli United Bank and Kuwait International Bank closed flat. Al Ahli Bank eased 5 fils to KD 0.425 while Burgan Bank was unchanged at KD 0.560 and the stock has added 10 fils so far during the month.
Lower
Kuwait Finance House gained 10 fils on back of over 1 million shares whereas Boubyan Bank pulled 10 fils lower. The stock has registered a net profit of KD 13.408 million and earnings per share of 7.29 fils in the year ending Dec 31, 2013, up from KD 10.05 million profit and earnings per share of 5.75 fils in the year before. The Board of Directors recommended 7 pct bonus shares as dividend. Kuwait Investment Co climbed 4 fils to KD 0.154 and Commercial Facilities Co shed 5 fils to end at KD 0.285. National Investment Co and KIPCO closed unchanged at KD 0.158 and KD 0.670 respectively. Securities House Co stagnated at KD 0.106 whereas Securities Group ticked 2 fils higher. Al Tamdeen Investment flunked 2 fils whereas Bayan Investment and Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) were up 2fils each. Noor Financial Investment was flat at KD 0.116 after clocking 2.27 million shares. The bourse was upbeat during last week. It closed higher in four of the five sessions and climbed 113 points week-on-week. The price index has rallied 234 points so far during the month after dropping 185 points during whole of December. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, Aqar Real Estate Investments Co has won the approval of Capital Markets Authority for the , the company's request to buy back or sell up to 6.35% of own shares over a period of 6 months. Warba Bank has logged a net loss of KD 3.12 million in the nine-month period ending Sept 30, 2013 and chalked a loss per share of 3.12 fils as against KD 2.06 net loss and loss per share of 2.07 fils in the same period last year. Independent 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. 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. Automated Systems Co has earned KD 1.45 million in the nine-month period ending Sept 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.
© Arab Times 2014
