KUWAIT CITY, Feb 7: Kuwait stocks covered more grounds on Sunday, extending gains to the fourth day. The index climbed 37.5 points in volatile trading led by telecom majors Zain and Wataniya. Blue chips were mostly muted while industrials shined after trading subdued in the previous session. The market mood still appears to be laced with caution as investors await more results from the leading listed companies.
The bourse wound up at 7102.1 points after adding 93 points in three earlier days while weighted index rose 6.12 points end at 386.19 points. The volume turnover dropped 17 percent to 432.4 million shares after witnessing strong liquidity level in the previous week. Sector wise food outshone others with a gain of 1.6 percent and investment came next with a rise of 1.1 percent. Banks climbed 0.6 percent while services edged 0.5 percent. Industrial were up 0.7 percent.
Zain rallied 5.6 percent to wind up at KD 0.930 on back of 13.2 million shares. The scrip was stagnant during the previous session. In September last year , major shareholder Kharafi announced that it has decided to sell a substantial part of its stake to an Indian-led consortium. However, the investors are getting increasingly impatient over the delay which was expected to have been completed in span of four month from the announcement of the deal. “It’s all about Zain – some investors saw it as cheap at these prices, but it’s speculation,” Reuters quoted Essa al-Hasawi, a dealer at Noor Financial Investment Co in Kuwait. He further added that there is talk in the market the Kharafi group will make an announcement about its sale of a 46 percent stake in Zain in the next two weeks.  Wataniya Telecom climbed 2.5 percent to close at KD 1.580, more than recouping the losses on Thursday. The scrip had eased 1.3 percent in January and is trading over 10 percent lower year-on-year. Agility held the ground unchanged at KD 0.570 after posting robust gains in the previous day. The scrip fluctuated in a 30 fils range and the counter saw 2.05 million shares change hands during the session.
The market had been fairly upbeat during the past week buoyed by the stronger than expected earnings of National Bank of Kuwait. The index closed higher in three of the five sessions, adding 30 points week-on-week. It has  gained 57 points so far in the month after climbing a modest 20 points during January.
Jumped
Among other notable gainers, Kuwait Food Co jumped 60 fils to settle at KD 1.380 on thin trading level while Egypt Kuwait Holding was up 20 fils at KD 0.580. United Projects Group added 25 fils on back of 1.5 million shares while Combined Group Contracting Co gained 60 fils. NAPESCO edged 5 fils higher. Mena Holding Co rose 15 fils to settle at KD 0.440 with a volume turnover of 2.89 million shares.  National Industries Group rose 10 fils to close at KD 0.325 with volume turnover of 6.38 million shares. The scrip had slipped 3.2 percent in January and is trading 85 fils higher year-on-year. Kuwait Pipes too was up 10 fils while Gulf Cables advanced 40 fils to wind up at KD 1.580 and posted razor thin volume.
Contracting and Marine Services Co and Kuwait Portland Cement added 20 fils each while Kuwait Foundry Co eased 10 fils to settle at KD 0.920. Boubyan Petrochemical Co rose 15 fils adding the marginal rise in the previous day. In the bourse related news, Kuwait Finance and Investment Company has acquired the approval of Central Bank of Kuwait to sell a 10 percent maximum of its issued shares over a six-month period starting from Jan 21, 2010. KFIC is committed to abide by CBK’s rules and regulations. Ahli United Bank (AUB) announced its acquisition of 47,769,268 shares of Ahli United Bank Egypt (AUBE) taking AUB’s stake in AUBE to 79.6 percent.
International Financial Advisors Company has won the Central Bank’s nod to to repurchase or sell a 10 percent maximum of its issued shares over a six-month period starting from on Feb 13, 2010. IFA is committed to abide by CBK’s rules and regulations.
The banking stocks were muted barring National Bank of Kuwait and Kuwait Finance House. NBK rose 20 fils on back of 4.5 million shares to close at KD 1.160 while Gulf Bank continued to stagnate at KD 0.290. Commercial Bank and Al Ahli Bank too held their ground unchanged at KD 0.950 and KD 0.495 respectively. Kuwait Finance House gained 20 fils, extending the strong gains on Thursday while Boubyan Bank edged 5 fils higher to KD 0.435.
Posted
Burgan Bank too did not budge from its previous close of KD 0.330 and posted a volume turnover of 1.4 million. The lender has emerged as a majority shareholder in an Iraqi lender as part of its plan to become a regional player. Burgan, now owns a 50.6 percent stake in the Bank of Baghdad after it bought an additional 5.3 percent stake for $10.7 million.
In more of recent corporate news, NBK logged a net profit of KD 63.7 million in the three months to Dec. 31 compared with KD 11.6 million in the year-earlier period. The bank posted a full-year net profit of KD 265.2 million, compared with net profit of KD 255.3 million last year. The lender’s board has recommended a cash dividend of 40 fils per share, and 10 bonus shares for every 100 shares, for 2009. The recommendation still needs the approval of the bank’s shareholders.
The investment stocks closed mixed. International Finance House eased 4 fils to KD 0.106 after trading over 42 million shares whereas National Investment Co climbed 25 fils on back of 2.4 million shares. KIPCO was up 5 fils at KD 0.485 whereas Securities Group fell 4 fils to settle at KD 0.108. Kuwait Financial Center Co gained 4 fils whereas Aref Investment Group rose 4 fils to close at KD 0.079.
Bayan Investment House and Aayan Leasing and Investment Co were stagnant at KD 0.079 and KD 0.069 respectively whereas Global Investment House edged 2 fils lower. Al Deera Holding Co too was down 3 fils while Al Madina For Finance and Investment Co inched 1 fils lower.
Safat Investment Co rose 4 fils to settle at KD 0.146. Central Bank has approved Al-Safat’s request to repurchase a 10% maximum of its issued shares for further 6 months, as of the current approval expiry on January 28, 2010.
The approval is subject to compliance to CBK’s buyback rules and regulations.
The market opened weak and slipped lower as profit taking hit select counters. The index moved sideways almost half way into the session and climbed thereafter. It rebounded above the red as buying picked up in industrials and select blue chips and fluctuated around the opening mark of an hour. A spurt in buying at close helped push the market well above the opening level.