KUWAIT : Kuwait stocks rebounded to a fresh high on Tuesday, driven by select investment and banking stocks. The market, after pulling sharply lower in the previous session, rallied 87.5 points led by KIPCO and modest gains by Kuwait Finance House. Blue chips closed mixed and profit booking continued to weigh on some of the heavyweights. NBK shed 40 fils after closing flat on Monday while National Industries posted modest gains. Zain lost 40 fils, extending its losses whereas Agility took in 20 fils. KSE index climbed 0.6 percent to close at 13,701.9 points amid a surge in volume turnover. Commercial Bank of Kuwait rose 1.27 percent following news that the lender expects to make profit of 22.15 Bahraini Dinars from selling its 19 percent stake in BBK.
Maintained
Notable amoung other advancers, TWG maintained in winning streak , gaining 50 fils and Global Investment House took in 20 fils. Kuwait Food Company and Kuwait Cement Co however tumbled 100 fils each, the maximum permitted one day drop. The benchmark is up 9.55 percent this year, the best performer in the region.
The sectoral indices all closed in the positive. Banking sector took in 0.3 percent helped by moderate gains in KFH, Burgan Bank and CBK and investment sector rallied 0.8 percent on back of KIPCO and Ayaan Leasing and Investment Co. The two sectors makes for the bulk of the shares traded in the bourse.
Real estate climbed 0.9 percent led by Mabanee Co while industrials did not move in either direction. Services jumped 0.9 percent driven by speculative buying in select positions.
In the bourse related news, Bank of Kuwait and Middle East (BKME) has posted a net annual profit of KD 48.179 million for the year 2007 and an earning per share (EPS) of 63.3 fils -- up from 59.3 fils in the previous year. The Board of Directors has recommended a cash dividend of 50 percent of the nominal value of the share and 5 percent bonus share, i.e. five shares for each 100 shares held.
Al Ahlia Holding Co is said to be in talks with Deutsche Bank and Citigroup Inc Co to facilitate the sale of 49 percent stake in Al Ahlia Real Estate Projects Co, a local newspaper reported. Global Investment House expects CBK and Burgan Bank to transfer to it their stakes in Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK), within a week, the newspaper said. Burgan Bank sold 5 million shares of BBK, netting a profit of KD 1.4 million.
The volume turnover shot over 52 percent to 418.8 million after falling below the 300 million mark in the previous session. The liquidity has been hovering around the 400 million mark in the past weeks and is being seen by analysts as a healthy sign of market buoyancy.
Banking sector dropped by over one-fifth of its earlier mark while investment sector surged by over 118 percent led by heavy trading in Al Maal Investment Co. Real Estate was almost stagnant while industrials jumped 81 percent helped by spurt in Boubyan Petrochemical Co. Services sector saw 52 percent rise in volume led by Al Safwa Group.
Noor Investment Co has posted a profit of KD 45 million ($164.5 million ) in the year 2007 and an earning per share (EPS) of 104 fils, compared with 54 fils in the year before. Dar Al Dhabi Holding Co, a unit of Bayan Investment Co has raised its capital from KD one million to KD 100 million and plans to acquire Dar Al Dhabi Real Estate Co based in Abu Dhabi, a local newspaper said.
Offers
Kuwait International Bank ( KIB) has announced that it has received offers to buy its stake in the Industrial Bank of Kuwait and Warba Insurance Co as the lender seeks to hive off its non-sharia investments. Global Investment House, Kuwait's largest investment bank has said that its profit last year rose 28 percent to KD 91.4 million ( $ 334.1 million). The operating revenue jumped 39.9 percent to KD 154.4 millions. It has proposed a cash dividend of 50 percent and bonus 10 shares for every 100 shares held.
The market, after nervous start, climbed higher in choppy trading as investors chased scrips at attractive levels after the dip in the previous session.
The index continued to rise on sustained buying interest in select counters and plateaued-off half way into the session. It moved sideways for the rest of the session as investors toed caution.
The bourse has reported a gain of 7.5 percent during the month of January. Though the market maintained its upwards trend, there was brief period of volatility during the third week of the month due to depression in global markets. However the Central Bank of Kuwait's rate cut which followed the Fed's move provided the impetus to the market. Among the heavyweights Zain was up 12 percent during the month.
The market breadth was biased towards the winners. 63 stocks advanced while 25 closed lower. Of the 153 counters active on Tuesday, 65 closed flat. 9276 deals worth KD 177.871 were transacted -- up 32 percent in value over previous session.
Agility took in 20 fils to close at KD 1.320 while Zain shed 40 fils. Sultan Center did budge from its earlier close while TWG rose 50 fils to settle at KD 0.800. Wataniya Telecom too did not move in either direction while Kuwait Gulf Links edged 5 fils up. National Industries gained 20 fils to finish at KD 1.920 while Kuwait Portland Cement fell 20 fils.
NBK dropped 40 fils to KD 2.260 whereas Gulf Bank closed flat. CBK and Burgan Bank took in 20 fils each. KFH too rose 20 fils to end at 3.520 and KIPCO rallied 40 fils. KMEFIC gained 20 fils to close at KD 0.610. The company has registered a profit of KD 13.26 million and an EPS of 62.66 fils.
Top percentage gainer Iraq Holding Co spiked 7.2 percent to KD 0.148 and The International Investment Co (TII) climbed 7 percent to stand next. Kuwait Cement dipped 6 percent, the sharpest decliner of the day, while Al Maal topped the volume with over 43 million shares changing hands.
Elsewhere in the region, markets closed mixed. Saudi Al Tadawul All Stocks Index soared 188.04 points after bleeding heavily during past week. Dubai Financial Market rose a modest 0.62 percent to 5631.88 points, snapping a week long decline. Emaar Properties recovered some of spurred by its Indian affiliate's decision to pull an initial public offering. The scrip climbed 0.89 percent after shedding 7.9 percent in the past two sessions. The less liquid Abu Dhabi fell 0.37 percent to end at 4705.02 points.
Prospects
Oil meanwhile slid towards $93 a barrel on Tuesday, as investors weighed the prospects for growing stocks of crude in the United States against Venezuela threat to stop sales to the world's top consumer. US crude dropped 45 cents to $93.14 a barrel, after ending almost 2 percent up in the previous day.
A Reuters preliminary poll ahead of weekly US data on Wednesday showed a 2.3 million barrel build in crude and a 1.6 million barrel increase in gasoline stocks. Venezuela is the fourth biggest supplier of crude to the United States and energy analysts have said an interruption to shipment could tighten inventories and push prices higher. Crude prices have tumbled from their January record of above $ 100 on mounting concerns that the US economy is slipping into recession which could hit other economies and push down oil demand.
By John Mathews
© Arab Times 2008
