KUWAIT CITY, July 4: Kuwait stocks slumped on Sunday, adding to the two day slide. The index tumbled 111.1 points in broad decline led by blue chips and some of the industrial stocks. The trading floor sentiments were markedly bearish even as investors continued to exit their positions in a bid to limit losses.
The bourse wound up at 6320.60 points while the weighted index dived 9.6 points to 380.8. The volume turnover meanwhile shrank 39.5 percent to 105.24 million. The bourse has been trading below the 200 million mark since June 17 indicating the reluctance of investors to take up fresh positions.
The prominent decliner include National Bank of Kuwait which slid 40 fils extending the losses from previous session. It winded up at KD 1.100 and traded over 1.8 million shares. Zain too tumbled 40 fils after stagnating on Thursday. It ended at KD 1.080 and posted a volume turnover of 4.39 million shares. The telecom service provider has repaid about $4 billion in loans to 50 local and international lenders using the proceeds from the sale of its African assets to Bharti Airtel Ltd.

Agility managed to limit its losses to 15 fils extending the drop from the earlier session. The stock closed at KD 0.275 and the counter saw 4.97 million shares change hands. Wataniya Telecom was down 20 fils at KD 1.720 in thin trade after posting an identical drop in the previous session. The stock had eroded 6.02 percent in June and is trading 180 fils higher since the start of the year.
The market opened weak and fell sharply in early trade as selling continued in both high priced and some of the speculative stocks. The index saw the steep fall in the first hour and it moved almost flat thereafter. It hit the lowest level of 6320.6 points in the final minutes and managed to slighty pare the losses at close. The bourse had slipped below the 7000 mark on May 23 and has been sliding range bound owing to lack of fresh cues.
The top gainer of the day Tijara and Real Estate Co jumped 6.757 percent to KD 0.039 while Mayadeen ( National Ranges Co) climbed 4.8 percent to stand next. First Takaful Insurance Co dived 21.552 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, while Gulf Finance House topped the volume with 8.16 million shares changing hands during the session.

Losers
The market spread was skewed heavily towards the losers. 11 stocks advanced while 111 closed lower. Of the 202 counters active on Sunday, 7 closed flat. 2295 deals worth KD 21.083 million were transacted - up 1.8 percent in value over previous session.
The sectoral indices all swung lower. Banking sector dropped 2.7 percent while investment lost 2.4 percent. Insurance plunged 3.6 percent, the worst performer of the day, while real estate and industrials were down 1.6 percent each. Services eroded 1.5 percent whereas food was down 0.7 percent. Non-Kuwaitis fell 0.6 percent, the least decliner of the day.
The bourse has been distinctly downbeat during last week. It closed lower in 4 of the 5 sessions and declined 194 points week-on-week. It has shed a whopping 219 points since the start of the month. The bourse had dropped 2.34 percent month-on-month in June extending the decline to third consecutive month. The capitalization amounted to $ 104.55 billion accounting for 16.86 percent of the GCC market. It is trading 8 percent lower year-to date.
The bank stocks closed mostly in red. Gulf Bank fell 5 fils to wind up at KD 0.380 adding to the loss on Thursday. It posted a volume turn over of 2.38 million shares. Al Ahli Bank dropped 20 fils to settle at KDD 0.49o while Commercial Bank was not traded during the day. CBK has posted an operating profit before provisions of KD 22.024 million in the first quarter.
Ahli United Bank shed 30 fils to close at KD 0.490 whereas Burgan Bank inched 2 fils higher on back of 3.68 million shares. It closed at KD 0.310. The lender has gained 1.6 percent in June and is trading 30 fils lower year-to-date.

Slipped
Kuwait Finance House slipped 20 fils to KD 0.940 adding to an identical loss in the previous session. The counter saw 2.12 million shares change hands. Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has affirmed its long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on KHF at ‘A-/A-2’. The ratings were removed from CreditWatch with negative implications where they were placed on May 26, 2010. Boubyan Bank was down 15 fils at KD 0.445.
Investment stocks too saw moderate to marginal losses. National Investment Co dropped 20 fils to end at KD 0.260 while KIPCO fell 10 fils to KD 0.260 after trading over 3 million shares. Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) eroded 6 fils while Al Aman and First Investment fell 5 fils each.
Global Investment House edged 2.5 fils after stagnating in the previous session while Al Safat Investment House eased 5 fils to settle at KDD 0.083. Al Tamdeen Investment Co dropped 15 fils to KD 0.290. In the insurance sector Ahli Insurance shed 25 fils while the real estate major NREC fell 6 fils. Mabanee Co dropped 20 fils to KD 0.540 and Mazaya Holding edged 5 fils lower.

National Industries Group and Kuwait Pipes lost 10 fils each and posted a volume of 4.88 million and 2.8 million respectively. Kuwait Cement Co was down 30 fils while Kuwait Portland Cement dived a whopping 80 fils after diving 100 fils in the previous session. Buobyan Petrochemicals Co lost 15 fils and Mena Holding eased 10 fils to KD 0.465.
In the bourse related news, Burgan Company for Well Drilling, Trading & Maintenance has announced its financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2010. The company has posted a profit of KD 2,874,265 and earnings per share of 13.72 fils compared to a profit of KD 6,860,647 and earnings per share of 35.03 in the year before. The Board has also recommended to retain earnings for the same year
Al Maal Investment Co. has obtained approval of Central Bank of Kuwait to repurchase or sell 10 percent of issued shares over the period of 6 months commencing July 17, 2010.
International Financial Advisors (IFA) announced that it is acquiring 2.5 mill shares of Kuwaiti Clearing Co. from Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait.
The shares represent 556.5 percent of capital and has a total value of KD 10 mill at KD 4/share. Deal will be reflected in the IFA’s financial statement of period ending June 30, 2010.