KUWAIT CITY, Aug 22: Kuwait stocks opened the week on a tame note. The index edged 3.2 points up in moderately volatile trade adding to the gains in the previous session. Banking stocks led by National Bank of Kuwait continued to shine following the government’s approval to the local lenders to finance the multi-billion projects. The state would provide guarantees amounting to KD 10 billion to back these loans. The benchmark wound up at 6,685.20 points frittering higher gains earlier in the session while the weighted index rose 2.17 points to settle at 432.53 points. The volume slipped further after showing an uptick on Sunday. 196.48 million shares were transacted — down 14.4 percent from the previous session.

National Bank of Kuwait rallied 40 fils on back of 6.07 million shares adding to an identical rise in the previous session. It ended at KD 1.360. Among other prominent advancers, KIPCO climbed 20 fils with a volume of 4.8 million shares and closed at KD 0.390. The stock had edged 3.08 percent up in July but has shed 95 fils since the start of the year.
Gulf Bank added 10 fils and over 4.66 million shares were traded in the counter while National Industries Group was up 20 fils after advancing by same measure on Thursday. It ended at KD 0.355 and the counter saw 9.3 million shares change hands.
Agility rose 5 fils with a volume of 1.69 million shares and ended at KD 0.455. The company auditors has warned that the prolonged suspension of US contracts could have a material impact on its government-related businesses. Zain however eroded 20 fils erasing the gains in the day before and settled at KD 1.180.

Wataniya Telecom held the ground unchanged at KD 1.820 after fluctuating in a 40 fils range. The other notable mid-caps which moved higher include Gulf Cables which gained 20 fils to close at KD 1.840 and Combined Group Contracting Co too climbed by same measure to finish at KD 1.740.
The market opened on a positive note and rose gradually as investors bought into banking stocks and select blue chips. The index peaked at 6709.1 points almost half way into the session and slipped thereafter on moderate bout of profit taking. It fell briefly below the red in the final minutes but managed to claw back at close.
“The index is still hesitating before moving up or dropping down as it remains sideways; however, this kind of movement is not going to last very long,” Global Investment House said in a research note. “We can notice that the index is trapped in a narrow range and needs initially to cross over 6,710 points to call for a rise to 6,784 points”.

Soared
The top gainer of the day, Commercial Facilities Co soared 6.3 percent to end at KD 0.335 while National Industries Group climbed 5.97 percent to stand next. Kuwait Building Material Manufacturing Co dived 8.62 percent — the steepest decliner of the day, while Jeezan topped the volume with 24.8 million shares changing hands.
Despite the marginal rise, the decliners outnumbered the gainers. 37 stocks advanced while 45 closed lower. Of the 107 counters active on Sunday, 24 closed flat. 3607 deals worth KD 46.79 million shares were transacted — down 18.4 percent in value over previous session.
The sectors closed mixed. Banking sector rallied 1 percent and investment gained 0.5 percent. Top performer insurance climbed 1.5 percent whereas real estate slipped 0.2 percent. Industrials shed 0.5 percent and services eased 0.2 percent. Food sector fell 0.3 percent while non-Kuwaitis edged 0.2 percent lower.

The bourse had crept higher during last week. It closed higher in 2 of the 5 sessions and added 13 points week-on-week. The index has gained 31 points since the start of the month and is trading 3 percent lower year-to date.
In the banking sector Al Ahli Bank rose 10 fils to close at KD 0.560 while Commercial Bank of Kuwait held the ground unchanged at KD 0.900. Ahli United Bank fell 10 fils to close at KD 0.540 while Burgan Bank was up 10 fils at KD 0.400. The counter saw 2.91 million shares change hands. The stock had rallied 9.52 percent during July and is up 60 fils year-to-date.
Kuwait International Bank rose 4 fils on back of 17.89 million shares while Kuwait Finance House did not budge from its earlier close of KD 1.100 after trading 5.72 million shares. Boubyan Bank too followed suit and was unchanged at KD 0.560 after posting modest gains on Thursday.

Flat
The International Financial Advisors was flat at KD 0.062 and National Investment Co stagnated at KD 0.335. Kuwait Financial Center took in 2 fils to settle at KD 0.118 while Global Investment House and Bayan Investment were stagnant at KD 0.060 and KD 0.054 respectively. KAMCO retreated 10 fils.
In the bourse related news, International Finance Company has announced its financial statements for the periods ended June 30, 2010. In the Three-month period the net loss mounted to KD 2,706,823 and loss per share chalked 5.8 fils compared to a loss of KD 5,552,402 and LPS of 11.9 fils in the same period last year. In the first half, net loss reached KD 3,654,802 and loss per share stood at 7.9 fils.