NBK, Wataniya up 20 fils each; Zain stagnates

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 17: Kuwait stocks rebounded Tuesday, after slipping slightly in the previous session. The index climbed 26.6 points after a wobbly start amid buying in select banks and some of large caps. The trading floor sentiment was largely positive even as investors eye the earnings for the heavyweights. The bourse wound up at 5,789.40 points off early lows while the weighted index was up 2.75 pts at 404.29. The volume turnover soared to the highest level in over 4 months after retreating in the previous session. 382.32 million shares changed hands -- a 41.3 percent rise from the day before. KSE, after drifting range bound in December has been upbeat so far during the month.

Wataniya Telecom rose 20 fils adding to an identical gain in the day before and closed at KD 1.980 while Zain held the ground unchanged at KD 0.860. The counter saw 1.29 million shares change hands during the session. Agility however slipped 5 fils to KD 0.355 extending the decline from the previous session.

National Bank of Kuwait rose 20 fils to KD 1.160 on back of 2.08 million shares after stagnating on Monday. 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.

Ahli United Bank climbed 30 fils with a volume turnover of 1.37 million shares and Kuwait Finance House added 10 fils on back of 1.99 million shares. Saudi unit of KFH earlier in the week, has earned 360 million riyals profit from the sale of a real estate project in the kingdom.

KIPCO gained 5 fils on back of 1.8 million shares and National Investment Co added 4 fils recouping the loss on Monday. The company has posted a 79.7% drop in net earnings to KD 1.26 million in the third quarter as compared to KD 6.22 million in year-earlier period.

Soared
Gulf Cables soared 40 fils to KD 1.440 whereas National Industries Group held the ground unchanged at KD 0.224 after trading 2.88 million shares. Combined Group Holding Co rose 20 fils to KD 1.520. The company last week signed a 3-year contract worth $94,021,914 with The Ministry of Communications in The Republic of Tajikistan.

The market opened weak and pulled lower in early trade. The index hit the day's lowest of 5,752.2 points and clawed back as buying picked up at lower levels. It edged above the red almost half way into the session and peaked at 5,789.7 points. It slipped slightly but managed to close with impressive gains.

Top gainer of the day, Coast Investment and Development Co climbed 9.8 percent to 56 fils whereas Kuwait Syrian Holding Co rose 9.6 points to stand next. Boubyan International Holding Co dived 5.3 points - the steepest decliner of the day, while Hits Telecom topped the volume with 75.6 million shares.

Reflecting the day's gain, the winners outnumbered the losers. 48 stocks advanced while 23 closed lower. Of the 102 counters active on Tuesday, 30 closed unchanged. 4,709 deals worth KD 39.32 million were transacted - an 88.9 percent surge in value from Monday.

In the banking sector, Kuwait International Bank edged 2 fils up on back of 2.8 million shares to settle at KD 0.238 and Gulf Bank rose 5 fils to 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.

Al Ahli Bank was steady at KD 0.660 after moving in a tight range whereas Commercial Bank of Kuwait was not traded during the session. Boubyan Bank stagnated at KD 0.590.

Burgan Bank was flat at KD 0.465 with a volume of 2.61 million shares. The stock had eased 55 fils during whole of 2011 and is down 10 fils from start of the month.

Gained
Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) ticked 2 fils up to KD 0.110 while First Investment Co gained 4 fils. Al Maal added 2.5 fils to settle at 50 fils whereas Bayan Investment Co closed flat. Al Madina For Finance and Investment rose 5 fils while Al Tamdeen Investment shed 6 fils to settle at KD 0.160.

National Real Estate Co and Tamdeen Real Estate Co closed flat at KD 0.118 and KD 0.230 respectively while Mabanee Co was steady at KD 0.860. Mazaya Holding Co ticked 1 fils lower.

The bourse has been positive so far during the week and has climbed 42.5 pts from close of Thursday. The index eked a marginal rise in December. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Alargan International Real Estate Co announced obtaining the Money Markets Authority to issue bonds up to KD 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 Sep 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