20 January 2016
NBK gains 10 fils

KIPCO flat

KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait stocks headed south on Monday extending the losing streak to 11th consecutive day. The bourse slid 43.78 pts to 5,054.64 points as sentiment remained weakening oil prices and negative and fragile global backdrop. The banks closed narrowly mixed even as some of the telecom shares eked modest gains.

The KSX 15 measure rose 2.45 points partly stemming the steep losses in the earlier sessions and weighted index was almost unchanged at 339.99 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile receded sharply after soaring past the 200 million mark in the last session amid brisk selling. 120.63 million shares changed hands - a 41.9 percent drop from Sunday.

The sectors closed mostly in the red. Telecommunications outpaced the rest with 0.63 pct gain whereas health care dived 2.57 pct, the worst performer of the day. In terms of volume, financial services clocked the highest market share of 42.18 pct and real estate followed with 27.3 percent.

In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait rallied 10 fils on back of 1.7 million shares whereas Gulf Bank was down 10 fils at KD 0.212. Kuwait Finance House added 5 fils with a volume of 5.6 million shares and Mabanee Co shed 30 fils.

Telecom major Zain rose 5 fils to KD 0.325 on back of 2.5 million shares whereas Wataniya Telecom (Ooredoo) was unchanged at KD 1.060 with thin trading. Kuwait Telecommunications Co (VIVA) climbed 10 fils to KD 0.990 and Agility rebounded 15 fils after chalking sharp losses in the last session.

Investment conglomerate KIPCO was flat at KD 0.520 off early lows and Noor Financial Investment inched 1.5 fils higher. The company has logged a net profit of KD 59,909 and earnings per share of 0.15 fils in the nine-month period ending 30 Sept 2015.

The market opened weak but pulled briefly up in early trading. The main index hit the day's highest level of 5,098.08 pts before retreating as mood turned sour. It continued to drift lower and bottomed at 5,026.22 pts in the second half before paring back some of the losses at close.

Top gainer of the day, Safwan Trading and Contracting Co jumped over 9 percent and Al Aqaria climbed 8.11 pct to stand close behind. Nafais Holding Co slid 12.2 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Securities House Co topped the volume with over 10 million shares.

Mirroring the day's decline, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 40 stocks advanced whereas 59 closed lower. Of the 122 counters active on Monday, 23 closed flat. 3,141 deals worth over KD 12 million were transacted - a 56 pct drop in value from the day before.

National Industries Group inched 1 fils up to 99 fils whereas RISCO and Kuwait Portland Cement paused at KD 0.300 and KD 0.980 respectively, Gulf Cable rose 5 fils to KD 0.305 and Equipment Holding Co ticked 2 fils higher.

Burgan Well Drilling Co climbed 8 fils to KD 0.126 while Gulf Petroleum Investment Co slipped 2.5 fils after trading over 4 million shares. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) was not traded during the session.

Clipped

Ikarus Petroleum Industries Co dropped 10 fils and Boubyan International Industries Holding Co clipped 2 fils. The company has clocked a net profit of  KD 25,007 and earnings per share of 0.08 fils in the quarter ending 31 Oct 2015 as against net loss of KD 126,236 and loss per share of 0.42 fils in the same period of last year.

Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co gave up 2 fils while ACICO Industries Co and Boubyan Petrochemical Industries Co shed 20 fils and 25 fils respectively. Shuaiba Industrial Co paused at KD 0.380.

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co fell 2.5 fils and KGL Logistics Co inched 1 fils lower. United Projects slid 50 fils to KD 0.600 and ALAFCO fell 2 fils to 192 fils. Zima Holding clipped 2 fils and Mezzan Holding was down 20 fils at KD 0.970 extending the steep losses in the last session.

Humansoft Holding was flat at KD 0.800 and Jeeran Holding Co followed suit. Jeeran Holding Co has logged a net profit of KD 477,353 and earnings per share of 3.5 fils in the nine-month period ending Nov 30, 2015 rebounding from a net loss of KD 5.72 million and loss per share of 42.06 fils in the same period of 2014.

In the banking sector Burgan Bank  fell 5 fils to KD 0.305 and Ahli United Bank followed suit to end at KD 0.465. Kuwait International Bank retreated 6 fils whereas Boubyan Bank closd 5 fils in green. Commercial Bank of Kuwait and Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait closed flat.

Commercial Facilties Co climbed 10 fils to KD 0.150 and National Investment Co edged 2 fils into red. Al Deera Holding and Sokouk Holding Co gave up 2.5 fils each whereas Noor Financial Investment Co closed 1.5 fils higher.

Tamdeen Investment Co rose 5 fils to KD 0.395 and Bayan Investment Co took in 1.5 fils. The company has obtained the approval of Capital Markets Authority to sell 30,319,197 shares for 6 months from the date of the approval.

The market continues to be bearish so far during the week and has dived 209 points in last two sessions. It has tanked 591 points so far during the month and is down 9.8 pct year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

In the bourse related news, Al-Mowasat Health Care Co has posted a net profit of KD 3.34 million and earnings per share of 32.89 fils in the year ending Dec 31, 2015 as against net profit of KD 2.005 million and earnings per share of 19.73 fils in the same period last year. The Board of Directors has recommended 15% cash dividend.

Gulf Insurance Group has been granted the approval by Capital Markets Authority on Jan 7, 2016 to buy back or sell a maximum of 10% of its shares for 6 months from date of the approval.

Al-Enmaa Real Estate Co has posted a net profit of KD 4.38 million and earnings per share of 9.73 fils for the year ending Dec 31, 2015 as compared to net profit of KD 3.36 million earnings per share of 7.47 fils in the year before.

Al Safat Real Estate Co has incurred a net loss of KD 53,673 and loss per share of 0.22l fils in the period ending Oct 31, 2015 as compared to net profit of KD 96,933 and earnings per share of 0.40 fils in the same period of 2014.

Strategia Investment Co has won the Capital Markets Authority's approval for the company's request to buy back or sell up to 10% of own shares over a period of 6 months.

© Arab Times 2016