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Oct 05 2011

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KSE index rebounds 15.3 pts amid volatile trade

Agility gains 15 fils; Zain slips 10 fils
KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait stocks clawed back Wednesday, snapping the two-day losses. The index climbed 15.3 points in volatile trade led by Agility and some of the mid-priced stocks. The blue chips closed mixed. The trading floor sentiments continued to skittish even as the investors repositioned ahead of the quarterly results. The bourse wound up at 5,819.60 points paring higher gains earlier in the session while the weighted index nudged 0.9 points up to settle at 406.89. The volume turnover surged after slipping below the 100 million mark in the previous session. 151.70 million shares changed hands, a 68 percent increase from Tuesday. Agility climbed 15 fils on back of 8.22 million shares adding to the strong gains in the day before and closed at KD 0.345. The logistics service provider had pleaded not guilty in August to fraud charges leveled by US government over multibillion-dollar defense supply contracts.

"It's difficult for me to sit here and say things are looking good for Agility, because it's the contrary," Reuters quoted a Kuwait-based trader, speaking on condition of anonymity. "I don't think they will reach a settlement."
Among other notable gainers, Kuwait National Cinema Co soared 100 fils, the maximum permitted single day gain, to end at KD 1.120 and Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co jumped 60 fils to KD 1.020 on thin trading. Combined Group Contracting Co climbed 80 fils while Jazeera Airways rose 25 fils on back of 4.19 million shares. On the downside, National Bank of Kuwait dropped 20 fils to KD 0.106 reversing the gains in the previous session. The lender in September has denied reports of derivative trading. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) was also down 20 fils at KD 1.460 while KGL Logistics Co shed 16 fils after trading 5.8 million shares.

Slipped
Bourse heavyweight Zain however slipped 10 fils to KD 0.930 after stagnating on Tuesday. A Kuwaiti court in late September had nullified Zain's annual shareholders meeting which was held in April, upholding a case filed by a former board member who opposed the election process.
Wataniya Telecom dropped 20 fils to settle at KD 1.880. The stock had shed 80 fils during whole of last month and is trading 20 fils lower year-to-date. National Industries Group added 4 fils with a volume turnover of 4.2 million shares and Kuwait Pipes ticked 2 fils higher to KD 0.146.
The market opened positive and climbed higher in early trading. The index continued to rise in choppy trade and peaked at 5,837.3 points almost half way into the session as investors chased select heavyweights and other scrips on speculative buying. It retreated thereafter moving sideways but managed to close with modest gain.

Top gainer of the day, First Dubai spiked 10 percent to 27.5 fils while Kuwait National Cinema climbed 9.8 percent to stand next. Eyas For Higher and Technical Education slid 13.33 percent, the biggest decliner of the day, while Safat Energy topped the volume with 13.12 million shares.
Mirroring the day's gain, the winners outnumbered the losers. 42 stocks advanced while 25 closed lower. Of the 108 counters active on Wednesday, 40 closed flat. 2,458 deals worth KD 20.23 million were transacted - a 85.7 percent surge in value from previous session.
In the banking sector, Gulf Bank was unchanged at KD 0.500 after trading slightly higher in early trade and Commercial Bank followed suit to wind up at KD 0.820. Gulf Bank earlier in September had won the approval of the Central Bank of Kuwait to buy back a maximum of 10 percent of its issued shares for a period of 6 months starting.

Added
Al Ahli Bank and Ahli United Bank added 10 fils each while Burgan Bank was up 5 fils at KD 0.475. The stock had climbed 50 fils during September but has shed 55 fils from start of the year.

Kuwait Finance House added 10 fils recouping the loss in the previous session to settle at KD 0.900.

Capital Intelligence (CI) earlier last month had affirmed the KFH's Foreign Currency Long and Short term ratings at 'A+' and 'A1' respectively, while the Financial Strength Rating is placed at 'BBB+/' Boubyan Bank was flat at KD 0.600.

Investment major KIPCO rose 5 fils on back of 2.01 million shares and Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) edged 2 fils higher. International Financial Advisors and Al Maal Investment Co both closed flat while Bayan Investment gained 2.5 fils.

Global Investment House was up 1 fil at 31.5 fils whereas Al Safat Investment fell 2 fils to 80 fils. Tamdeen Investment Co was up 2 fils at KD 0.150.

National Real Estate Co gained 5 fils on back of 3.08 million shares and Tamdeen Real Estate Co added 2 fils to settle at KD 0.218. Mabanee Co climbed 20 fils whereas Salhiya Real Estate fell 2 fils. The bourse has been mixed so far during the week and has shed 14 points from last week's close. The benchmark had rebounded 42 points during last month and is trading 16 percent lower year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In bourse related news, Zain Iraq, a unit of Kuwait's Zain said that it was moving forward in the process to be listed on the local bourse after it missed an Aug 31 deadline for offering its shares.

Al-Safat Investment Co has posted a net loss of KD 9,491,858 and loss per share of 12.30 fils in the first half of 2011 as against net loss of KD 1,052,962 and loss per share of 1.36 fils in the same period last year.

Burgan Well Drilling Co has clocked a net profit of KD 253,359 and earnings per share of 1.21 fils in the second quarter ending June 30. This compares with net profit of KD 145,125 and earnings per share of 0.69 fils in 2010 Q2.

Gulf Finance House has posted KD 193,670 net profit in the first half of 2011 while earnings per share chalked 1 fil. This compares with a net loss of 13,115,943 and loss per share of 29 fils in the same period.

Kuwait Stock Exchange has barred the following companies from trading in the bourse for failing to pay annual subscription fee of 2011/2012:

International Leasing and Investment Co, National International Holding Co, Pearl of Kwt Real Est Co, Investors Holding Group Co, Grand Real Estate Projects Co, Kuwait Business Town Real Estate Co, Refrigeration Ind and Storage Company, Mena Holding Co, Villa Moda Life Style, Kuwait National Airways Co, Ras Al Khayma for White C Airways Co, Ras Al Khayma for White Cement, Al-Abraj Holding Co, International Investment Group and Network Holding Co.