Americana gains 60 fils; Zain ticks up

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 10

Kuwait stocks paced up on Thursday to close the week on a high note. The index rallied 63.3 pts on back of strong buying in blue chips and select mid-caps while profit taking weighed on some of the low-priced stocks. The market mood was positive even as the bourse closed for the weeklong Eid holidays. The KSX 15 benchmark jumped 6.36 pts 1,099.38 points taking the 2013 gains to over 99 pts while weighted index rose 3.06 points to 463.52 points. The volume turnover meanwhile rebounded after hitting a multimonth low in the previous session. 300.9 million shares changed hands -- a 77.1 percent surge from the day before.

The sectors all closed in the green zone except technology which shed 2 percent. Oil and gas outperformed the peers with 2.47 pct jump while consumer goods came in next with 2.36 percent gain. In terms of volume, financial services notched the highest market share of 37.06 percent while real estate stood next with 31.21 pct. Among the prime movers, Kuwait Food Co ( Americana) soared 60 fils to KD 2.460 extending the gains from the previous session while NAPESCO leapt 45 fils. Advanced Technology Co vaulted 40 fils with thin trading and National Consumer Holding Co added 10 fils. Salbookh Trading rose 6 fils on back of 1.48 million shares while Energy House was up 7 fils at KD 0.104. Equipment Holding Co took in 2 fils and ALFCO dialed up 5 fils after closing flat in the previous session.

Recouping
Bourse heavyweight Zain rose 10 fils to KD 0.720 recouping the loss in the day before while Wataniya Telecom gained 20 fils to wind up at KD 1.920. Agility held the ground unchanged at KD 0.700 off early highs and the stock has gained 10 fils so far during the month. The market opened flat and moved sideways in early trade. The index sagged slightly to hit the day's lowest level of 7,701.43 pts and revved up briefly amid buying in select counters. It resumed linear movement and managed to tick up in the final minutes to close with hefty gains. Top gainer of the day, NAPESCO spiked 9 percent to KD 0.602 and Energy House climbed 7.22 pct to stand next. Kuwait Hotels slid 7.14 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Gulf Finance House topped the volume with 41.90 million shares.

Mirroring the strong gains, the market spread was heavily skewed towards the winners. 75 stocks advanced whereas 28 closed lower. Of the 152 counters active on Thursday, 49 closed flat. 6,290 deals worth KD 23.71 million were transacted -- a 47.17 percent rise in value from the day before. "The investors are going to follow stocks which have been consistent in their dividend distributions and are expected to announce sound financials," Reuters quoted Fouad Darwish, head of brokerage services at Global Investment House National Industries Group was flat at KD 0.255 whereas Combined Group Contracting Co soared 40 fils. The company has made a net profit of KD 3.88 million and earnings per share of 36.56 fils falling from KD 4.08 million profit and 38.45 EPS in the year earlier period.

On the flip side, Contracting and Marine Services Co slipped 2 fils to KD 0.162 while Gulf Cables was down 10 fils. 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. City Group dived 25 fils to KD 0.415 and Automated Systems Co gave up 15 fils. ACICO Industries Co dialed down 5 fils whereas Kuwait Foundry Co held the ground steady at KD 0.360. NICBM ticked 2 fils lower to KD 0.248.

Rallied
Kuwait Gulf Links closed flat at KD 0.106 and has rallied 8 fils so far during the month and KGL Logistics Co followed suit to end at KD 0.265. The company is planning to hike its capital by 65% 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. Jazeera Airways was unchanged at KD 0.510 whereas Metal and Recycling Co dialed up 4 fils to wind up at KD 0.124. United Industries Co too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.142. In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait rose 10 fils to KD 0.920 recouping the loss in the previous session and Gulf Bank gained 4 fils. Al Ahli Bank stagnated at KD 0.495 whereas Commercial Bank was not traded during the session. Ahli United Bank rose 10 fils to KD 0.710 while Kuwait International Bank eased 5 fils.

The lender has been granted permission by Central Bank of Kuwait to extend the period to buy back or sell up to 10% of own issued shares over an additional 6 months. Burgan Bank was flat at KD 0.790 after trading in red earlier in the day and Kuwait Finance House too was steady at KD 0.790 and the stock has retreated 20 fils so far in 2013. Boubyan Bank paused at KD 0.600 off early highs. Kuwait Investment Co gained 4 fils with thin trading and International Financial Advisors ticked 1 fils higher on back of 4.47 million shares. National Investment Co closed flat whereas KIPCO climbed 10 fils. First Investment Co rose 4 fils to KD 0.106 and Al Salam Group followed suit. KMEFIC eased 2 fils and Osoul Investment Co inched 1 fils lower. Bayan Investment and Al Mal were unchanged and Noor Financial took in 2 fils.

The bourse has been bullish during the week It closed higher in all five sessions and gained 142 pts week-on-week The index is unchanged from start of the month and is trading over 30 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 Oct 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