KUWAIT CITY, Aug 29: Kuwait stocks climbed higher on Sunday stemming the two-day decline. The index rose 20 points on back of select blue chips and some of the mid-caps in the banking and industrial sector. The trading floor sentiment was cautious even as investors looked for indicators to prop the market. The bourse winded up at 6,665.60 points after swaying marginally in both directions while the weighted index rose 2.46 points to 436.17 points. The volume meanwhile slid 22.4 percent to 146.657 million. It had touched the month’s high of 414.38 million on 9th Aug but receded thereafter.
Among the prominent gainers, Zain climbed 20 fils after stagnating in the previous session. It winded up at KD 1.200 and saw 0.667 million shares change hands. Wataniya Telecom jumped 40 fils recouping an identical loss on Thursday and ended at KD 1.780. The stock had gained 4.55 percent during July and is up 240 fils since the start of the year.

Agility held the ground unchanged at KD 0.450 after trading in narrow 5 fils range. Other notable movers include Kuwait Food Co ( Americana) which soared 40 fils to wind up at KD 1.580. Burgan Bank rose 20 fils on back of 6.71 million shares adding to the meager rise in the earlier session.
KIPCO gained 15 fils with a volume turnover of 3.21 million shares and closed at KD 0.415. Combined Group Contracting Co slid 20 fils and Automated Systems Co followed suit to settle at KD 0.275. Kuwait Gulf Links did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.188.
The market started off on a choppy note and traded sideways above the opening mark in the first half. The index slipped below the red past the mid-session as investors exited some of the mid-caps and speculative positions and hit the day’s lowest of 6640.20 points. It saw gradual rebound thereafter and managed to post modest gains at close.
The top gainer of the day, Mushrif Trading and Contracting Co spiked 7.8 percent to close at KD 0.138 while Dar Al Thuraya Real Estate Co climbed 6.12 percent to stand next. Automated Systems Co was the biggest loser sliding 6.78 percent while Gulf Finance House topped the volume with over 19.92 million shares changing hands. The Board of Directors of GFH has approved increasing the bank’s capital by $300 mln after securing approval of the General Assembly and related authorities.

Advance
Reflecting the day’s advance, the gainers outnumbered the losers. 35 stocks advanced while 27 closed lower. Of the 97 counters active on Sunday, 34 closed unchanged. 2366 deals worth KD 24.98 million were transacted — down 10.8 percent in value over previous session. KSE, with 209 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
“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 recent 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,”.

The sectoral indices all closed in the positive region. Banking sector outperformed with 1 percent gain while investment inched 0.1 percent higher. Insurance too was up 0.1 percent and real estate added 0.2 percent. Industrials rose 0.2 percent and services gained 0.3 percent. Food climbed 0.8 percent while non-Kuwaiti nudged 0.3 percent up.
The bourse had posted moderate decline during the last week. It closed lower in 3 of the 5 sessions and eroded 37 points week-on-week. The index has added 11 points since the start of the month but is trading 3 percent lower year-to date.
The banking stocks were mixed with most of the lenders ending flat and three closing higher. National Bank of Kuwait was steady at KD 1.380 after vacillating in a 20 fils range. It saw a volume turnover of 2.44 million shares.

Gulf Bank too was unchanged at KD 0.540 whereas Al Ahli Bank and Commercial Bank was not traded during the day. ABK’s second quarter profits has more than doubled from year-ago levels to KD 10.95 million and dividends increased from 18 fils to 20 fils.
Ahli United Bank rose 10 fils and Kuwait International Bank followed suit to wind up at KD 0.265. The counter posted volume of 16.38 million shares — the highest in the sector.
Kuwait Finance House was stagnant at KD 1.100 after moving in a 20 fils range intra-day. The stock had climbed 6.12 percent during July and is unchanged from its year’s opening level. Boubyan Bank too was flat at KD 0.560 after closing higher in the previous session.
The IMF in a recent study on Kuwaiti banks has said that, although the sector is heavily exposed to the real estate sector, they have sufficient financial resources to withstand a new crisis despite a sharp rise in their non-performing loans.

The investment stocks too moved in both directions. National Investment Co fell 5 fils whereas International Financial Advisors was stagnant at KD 0.060 after trading 6.16 million shares.
Bayan Investment Co and Global Investment House slipped 1 fils each while Housing Finance Co ( Iskan ) dropped 8 fils. Al Deera Holding was unchanged at KD 0.052 while Al Tamdeen Investment Co was down 10 fils at KD 0.340.
National Real Estate Co edged 2 fils up to KD 0.168 whereas Al Tamdeen Real Estate Co shed 10 fils. Mabanee Co gained 20 fils recovering the loss on Thursday. In the industrial sector, National Industries Group fell 5 fils while Kuwait Pipes stagnated at KD 0.290. Kuwait Cement Co rose 10 fils while Gulf Cables and Kuwait Portland Cement gained 20 fils each.
In the bourse related news, the Securities Group Company has posted a second quarter net profit of KD 525,331 and earning per share of 2.06 fils compared to KD 1,483,124 and earning per share of 5.81 fils in the same period last year.

Gulf Cables and Electrical Industries Company has chalked a net profit of KD 19,092,520 and earnings per share of 91 fils compared to a profit of KD 1,224,114 and earnings per share of 6 fils for the same period last year. In six-month period ending June 30, the net profit touched KD 22,069,735 and earnings per share worked out at 105 fils.
Pearl of Kuwait Real Estate Co. announced its results for its fiscal year 2009. The company posted a net loss of KD 9,542,591 and loss per share of 37.94 fils as against last year’s net loss of KD 7,935,133 and loss per share of 31.54 fils. The Board of Directors recommended no dividend payout for the fiscal year.
Meanwhile Kuwait Stock Exchange in its latest move has announced the suspension of shares trading of 22 companies for failing to submit the financial statements in the stipulated time.