Mowasat Holding soars 9.8% to KD 0.280
KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait stocks surged on Wednesday breaching the 10000 mark on Wednesday. The market notched 95.3 points, paced by heavy buying activity in select counters. Medium caps and speculative scrips across the sectors too posted moderate gains. KSE index closed at 10057.9 points - up 1 percent, the highest level since second week of January. The rally was fuelled by a bullish undercurrent that was visible right through the week. The index added 286 points in the five sessions.
Movers
The week ended on a positive note after edging higher in all the sessions. The prime movers during the week were the telecom scrips -- Wataniya and MTC, besides some speculative stocks which lend momentum to the rally. Gulf Bank surged 80 fils on Wednesday. The sectoral indices all closed in the positive region. Banking sector rallied 0.7 percent, aided by a strong performance by the Gulf Bank. Investment scrips rose 0.8 percent with a modest to strong gains posted by both large and medium caps. The two sectors makes for the bulk of the shares traded in the bourse -- both in value and volume.
The real estate climbed 1 percent and the industrial sector too followed suit, spurred by gains in middle stocks. Services too advanced strongly.
The market breached the 10000 mark on its way down on January 14, after gingerly holding above the psychologically significant level since the opening session of the year.
"The market was steady throughout the week, and this should be seen as sign of strength because it occurred in a period when the world markets crashed and in midst of political uncertainty that arose after the resignation of the cabinet, Orient Consulting Company said in its weekly review. "What it means is that the market is turning or may have already turned bullish".
The volume of shares receded slightly to 211.1 million, led by drop in banking sector. The sector saw a dip of 30 percent against its previous level as investors quitted some of the key stocks. Investment scrips saw a 5 percent fall.
Industrial sector tapered by 67 percent in volume turnover and the real estate sector dwindled by 16 percent. Services sector saw a slight increase in liquidity and the food sector more than doubled from its Tuesday level.
Analysts predict the market to dip slightly in coming days as it consolidates after a period of sustained gains. " The index should stabilize or go down a little because it has gone up for the last 2 weeks. National Bank of Kuwait is trading at a P/E to the third quarter of 2007 of 15, Gulf Bank at 12 and Kuwait Finance at 15. MTC and Wataniya are trading", Reuters quoted Abdul Mohsen Al Bahar, Portfolio Manager, Noor Financial Investment Co.
Al Safwa Group Holding Co. said on Wednesday that it had made an offer for United Industries Co's 40 percent stake in United Fisheries of Kuwait. Safwa indicated that it had offered to buy 61.6 million shares, equivalent to 40 percent of United Fisheries, belonging to United Industries, the Kuwaiti bourse said in web statement.
In other news to come out on Wednesday, Trade and Industry Minister Falah al Hajeri and Ahmad al Mulaifi, Member of Parliament have mooted the establishing of a money market authority to deal with the problems faced by the Kuwait Stock Exchange. They were addressing a conference organized by the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Buoyant
The market opened on buoyant note and climbed steadily throughout the session in a narrow band. Traders picked up shares currently trading at attractive level across the board. The index spiked sharply at the close, paced by a spurt in buying.
KSE said that Kuwait Projects Co. (KIPCO) has finalized the sale of 51 percent of National Mobile Telecommunication Co. ( Wataniya) to Qatar Telecommunication ( Qtel). Qtel had said earlier in the month that it would pay USD 3.72 to take the control of Wataniya.
Al Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co. (QPIC) has received approval to list on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, Chairman Sheikh Mubarak al Sabah said in a statement carried by KUNA.
Reflecting the upbeat market sentiments, the winners vastly outled the losers. 66 stocks advanced while 24 closed lower. 49 out of the 139 counters active on Wednesday closed unchanged. 7468 deals worth KD 115.6 million were transacted during the day. The bourse, the second biggest in the region has over 175 listed companies.
Mowasat Holding Company, the top percentage gainer of the session, vaulted 9.8 percent to KD 0.280. Kuwait Bahrain International Exchange Co. jumped 8.3 percent to stand next. Independent Petroleum Group Company suffered the most, shedding 6.2 percent to finish at KD 0.455.
Blue chips mostly closed above the opening level. Agility took in 20 fils on back of 3.9 million shares. Kuwait Gulf Links held its ground at KD 1.180. TWG was not traded on Wednesday. Wataniya too did not budge from its previous close of KD 3.020.
MTC nudged 40 fils up to finish at KD 4.540 on a volume of 2.4 million shares. MTC may sell Islamic bonds to refinance a USD 1.2 billion loan as it seeks to expand , a company spokesman said.
Banking stocks were mostly subdued. NBK, the sector bellwether, closed unchanged at KD 2.060. Gulf Bank surged 80 fils to KD 1.520 and CBK took in 20 fils. KREB slipped 10 fils while Kuwait Finance House did not swing in either direction.
KIPCO inched 10 fils up, trading over 24 million shares - the heaviest in the session. International Investment Group (IIG) closed at KD 0.460 - up 10 fils on back of 5.8 million shares.
KAMCO gained 40 fils to end at KD 0.760. Investment Dar dropped 40 fils to KD 1.120. The company is leading a consortium to buy between 10-20 percent of British-based Aston Martin automobile firm for about 400 million pounds.
National Industries Group (NIG), did not budge during the session. Kuwait Portland Cement took in 20 fils to close at KD 1.200. Kuwait Pipe Industries and Oil Services Company soared closed 25 fils up at KD 0.365. Kuwait Food Company (Americana) , soared 100 fils to KD 1.980. Mashaer, the Hajj and Umra Services Company, took in 20 fils and United Fisheries of Kuwait rose 25 fils on a volume of 12 million shares.
Dubai stock index on Wednesday fell to a 2-year low , paced by a 3.28 percent drop in Emaar Properties - the largest in the bourse in terms of market capitalization. The market bled 1.33 percent at 3960.12 points. Investors are said to be disappointed with the dividends.
Lowest
Saudi Al Tadawul All Stocks Index inched 0.17 percent higher. The best performing index in the region has added nearly 2000 points in a sustained rally after falling to its lowest level in Jan 30. The bourse is 26.4 percent up YTD ( year to date). Oil rebounded above $58 a barrel on Wednesday after a dollar slide the previous session, spurred by drop in US equities. Crude oil prices have shed nearly 25 percent from the record high of over $78 touched in mid-July, 2006, and is almost down 12 percent since the start of this year and experts say the overall trend is slightly bearish.
By John Mathews
© Arab Times 2007
