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Kuwait bourse climbs 7.8 pts as volume increases

By John Mathews Agility gains 25 fils; Zain retreats
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 30: Kuwait stock crept higher Monday adding to the gains in the last three sessions. The bourse rose 7.8 points in slightly volatile trade helped by buying in select heavyweights. The sentiment was skittish even as some of the mid and small caps swayed range bound on speculative trade.

The market wound up at 5,865.40 points after slipping briefly into red earlier in the session. The volume turnover ticked up after receding in the last three days. 385.61 million shares changed hands -- a 14.9 percent increase from Sunday. The volume has been on upswing in the second half of the month as investors reshuffled their portfolios ahead of the election and the earnings announcements.

Agility rose 25 fils on back of 3.99 million shares to KD 0.370 whereas Zain pulled 10 fils lower to close at KD 0.840. Wataniya Telecom was not traded during the session. The stock had gained 40 fils during whole of 2011 and is up 60 fils so far during the month.

National Industries Group eased 2 fils to KD 0.224 with a volume of 3.76 million shares whereas Kuwait Pipes added 4 fils to settle at KD 0.128. Kuwait Portland Cement rose 10 fils while ACICO Industries edged 2 fils lower to KD 0.200.

Among other notable movers, United Projects Co jumped 25 fils to KD 0.300 and Mashaer Holding Co was up 8 fils on back of 3.62 million shares. Hits Telecom rose 5 fils with a volume of 34.2 million shares and Sultan Centre gained 10 fils to close at KD 0.120. The counter saw 4.08 million shares change hands.

Flat
The market opened flat and moved sideways in early trade. The index crept higher on slight pick up on buying in select counters and hit the day's highest level of 5,850.1 points. It retreated thereafter on profit taking and bottomed at 5850.1 points past the mid-session before clawing back to the opening mark. The market ticked higher in the final minutes and closed with slight gains.

Top gainer of the day, Al Dar National Real Estate Co climbed 9.09 percent to 18 fils and Sultan Centre followed suit to end at KD 0.120. Qurain Holding shed 8.69 percent, the steepest decliner of the day whereas IFA topped the volume with 49.88 million shares.

The market spread was evenly skewed. 35 stocks advanced and same number of scrip closed lower. Of the 100 counters active on Monday, 29 closed flat. 4633 deals worth KD 30.93 million shares were transacted - a 9.8 percent increase from Sunday.

In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait closed flat at KD 1.180 . The lender has posted near flat profit growth in 2011. "The bank's top-line matched our expectations, however non-interest income was slightly higher than our forecast on account of investment gains and income from associates," Reuters quoted Naveed Ahmed, senior financial analyst at Global Investment House earlier in the week.

Kuwait Finance House dropped 10 fils to KD 0.870 whereas Gulf Bank added 5 fils to settle at KD 0.495. Standard & Poor's earlier in December has upgraded Gulf Bank 's long-term credit rating of BBB- to BBB, and raised the Bank's outlook from stable to positive.

Commercial Bank was down 20 fils at KD 0.750. The stock had gained 20 fils during December and has shed 40 fils so far during the month. Kuwait International Bank ticked 2 fils higher. Burgan Bank rose 10 fils to KD 0.460 whereas Ahli United Bank was not traded during the session.

Investment major KIPCO closed flat at KD 0.315 and National Investment Co followed suit to wind up at KD 0.168. International Finance Co was flat KD 0.112 after trading 11.1 million shares and Kuwait Financial Centre Co fell 2 fils.

Egypt Kuwait Holding Co fell 5 fils whereas Combined Group Contracting Co was not traded during the day. The company earlier in the month signed a 3-year contract worth $ 94,021,914 with The Ministry of Communications in The Republic of Tajikistan.

Slipped
Kuwait Gulf Links slipped 4 fils to KD 0.102 after trading 1.14 million shares whereas Jazeera Airways and Kuwait Food Co (Americana) were unchanged. National Real Estate Co climbed 10 fils on back of 3.08 million shares whereas Al Enma slipped 2 fils.

The bourse has been upbeat so far during the week and has added 13.2 pts from close of Thursday. The index has climbed 51.2 pts so far during the month after eking marginal rise in December. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, NBK Capital, the investment banking arm of the lender, is selling its stake in Saudi fleet leasing and car rental firm Hanco and may also cash out in an initial public offering for its Turkish investment Kilic Deniz.

Alargan International Real Estate Co announced obtaining the Money Markets Authority to issue bonds up to KWD 26.5 Mill divided over 2 portions with a maturity of 5 years.

KSE has lifted the ban on trading of Ekttitab Holding Co's share with effect from Jan 4, 2012. This move follows the fall in shareholders' holding following the reduction of capital from KD 51,700,000 to KD 22,862,423.

The bourse authorities have announced suspension of Burgan Well Drilling Co with effect from Jan 2, 2012 for failing to pay annual membership fee for 2011/2012.

KSE listed companies have logged a 3.2 percent decline in third quarter profit to hit KD 923 million, according to Al Joman Center for Economic Consultancy. Investment sector, the biggest decliner , saw a 98 percent drop in earnings followed by the real estate sector which eroded 19 percent.

Al Safat Real Estate Co has posted a net loss of KD 1,435,068 and loss per share of 5.98 fils in the first nine-months of the year as compared to a net loss of KD 745,249 and loss per share of 3.11 fils in the same period last year.

Al Aman Investment Co has posted a net loss of KD 1,581,185 and loss per share 3.3 fils in the nine-month period ending Sept 30. This compares with net profit of KD 738,187 and earnings per share of 1.5 fils in the same period last year.

© Arab Times 2012