KUWAIT CITY, Sept 7: Kuwait stocks gained momentum on Tuesday, adding to the gains in the last three sessions. The index climbed 25.9 points on back of buying in second half of the session. The day’s advance was paced by Zain and select banking stocks while other blue chips were muted. The investors appears to be cautiously taking positions ahead of the Eid holidays in anticipation of the strong rally in the coming days.
The market wound up at 6753.40 points in a narrowly volatile session while the weighted index rose 2.78 points to settle at 449.83 points. The volume turnover eased further in absence of tangible cues . 130.65 million shares were traded - down 4.9 percent from the previous day.

Zain rose 20 fils after stagnating on Monday. It wound up at KD 1.260 and saw a volume turnover of 7.92 million shares. Agility however held the ground unchanged at KD 0.460 after eroding in the previous session. The firm has won an extension of its warehousing contract with US army for a period of 6 months. Wataniya Telecom too did not budge from its previous close of KD 1.840. The stock had eased 2.17 percent in August and has added 300 fils since the start of the year. Kuwait Gulf Links rose 10 fils on back of 5.36 million shares and ended at KD 0.210. Kuwait Finance House climbed 20 fils with a volume turnover of 6.69 million shares and finished at KD 1.160. Among other advancers, National Industries Group was up 5 fils at KD 0.365 with a volume turnover of over 3 million shares and Kuwait Pipes followed suit to close at KD 0.300. Kuwait Portland Cement gained 20 fils recouping the drop in the previous session.
The market opened low and traded below the red in early trade as investors toed the sidelines amid weak sentiments. The index bottomed at 6726.2 points and climbed above the opening mark in the final hour as buying picked up in select counters. It managed to close with modest gains. The top gainer of the day, Tamdeen Investment Co rose 7.692 percent to close at KD 0.350 and Gulf Glass Manufacturing Co clocked an identical rise. First Takaful Insurance slid 20.833 percent, the biggest loser of the day, while Kuwait Industrial Bank topped the volume with 8.1 million shares changing hands.

Gainers
The market spread was biased towards the gainers. 54 stocks advanced while 25 closed lower. Of the 107 counters active on Tuesday, 27 closed flat.3163 deals worth KD 48.16 million were transacted - up 8.1 percent in value over previous session. KSE, with 209 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
The sectors closed mostly in the green. Banking sector crept 0.7 percent higher while top performer investment sector climbed 1 percent. Insurance dropped 0.9 percent and real estate added 0.3 percent. Industrials gained 0.6 percent while services edged 0.2 percent higher. Food sector slipped 0.2 percent whereas non-Kuwaiti inched 0.1 percent up.
The bourse has notched robust gain so far during week. The index has risen 47 points from Sunday’s opening level and is up 65 points since the start of the month. However, it is trading 2 percent lower year-to date. Meanwhile the Kuwait Stock Exchange has announced that it will be closed starting Thursday Sept 9 for the Eid al-Fitr Islamic holiday. Trading will recommence on Sept 13 if the first day of Eid is on Thursday, or on Sept 14 if the first day is on Friday. In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait was stagnant at KD 1.480 after moving in a 20 fils range intra-day and the counter saw 6.03 million shares change hands. The lender has booked KD 23.5 million of provisions in the second quarter and expects a tougher second half. Gulf Bank too was flat at KD 0.520 while Commercial Bank was not traded during the session.

Al Ahli Bank and Ahli United Bank added 10 fils each to close at KD 0.550 and KD 0.530 respectively while Burgan Bank rose 5 fils on back of 4.66 million shares. The stock had jumped 27.54 percent during August and is up 140 fils year-to-date. Boubyan Bank shed 20 fils after posting a volume turnover of 2.86 million. In the investment sector, stocks closed mixed. International Financial Advisors ended flat at KD 0.060 while National Investment Co rose 10 fils after stagnating on Monday. KIPCO eased 5 fils to settle at KD 0.425 while Aref Investment Group inched 1 fils lower. The company has sustained a loss of KD 21.4 million in the first half of this year and a loss of 20 fils per share, compared to KD 38 million in losses in the same period last year. In the April-June quarter the losses hit KD 16.9 million and loss per share clocked 16 fils.

Fell
Bayan Investment Co fell 3 fils whereas Global Investment House took in 1 fils to close at KD 0.060. Al Madina For Finance and Investment Co was steady at KD 0.041 and Noor Financial Investment edged 0.5 fils up. In the real estate, National Real Estate Co was changed at KD 0.172 whereas Tamdeen Real Estate Co climbed 15 fils to close at KD 0.295.
In the bourse related news, Al Safat Real Estate Company has incurred a net loss of KD 682,750 in the second quarter and loss per share of 2.84 fils compared to a profit of KD 267,706 and earnings per share of 1.12 fils for the same period last year. In the first half, loss amounted to KD 474,438 and loss per share worked out at 1.98 fils. 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.
Kuwait Stock Exchange has announced suspension of shares trading of the following companies for failing to submit their financial results in the stipulated time: Safat Global Holding, Investment Dar Company, International Leasing and Investment Co, Villa Moda Life Style, Securities House Company, International Investment Group, Aayan Leasing and Investment Company, Network Holding Co, Al-Ahleia Holding Company, Pearl of Kwt. Real Est. Co, Kuwait Investment Company, International Investor Company, Industrial and Financial Inv Co, Securities Group Company, Aref Investment Group, Gulfinvest International Co, Kuwait Financing and Investment Co, Al Madar Finance and Investment Co, Al-Safat Investment Co, Kuwait Bahrain International Exchange Co, Equipment Holding Co, Gulf Finance House, Al-Abraj Holding Co.