KUWAIT CITY, Oct 4: Kuwait stocks retreated on Monday snapping the five-day gains. The index slid 39.4 points amid profit taking in Zain and select stocks in the industrial and services sectors. However some of the Kharafi Group linked shares continued to gain ground. The market sentiments has turned cautious as investors await the outcome of the Etisalat’s bid for Zain stake. The bourse wound up at 6,947.10 points after closing almost flat in the previous session while the weighted index fell 1.3 points to 466.38 points. The volume turnover meanwhile slid further after dropping in the previous session. 271.64 million shares were transacted — down 19.9 percent from previous session. It had swelled past the 400 million mark on Sep 30 on frenzied buying backed by Zain stake sale speculation.

Zain eased 20 fils after posting an identical fall on Sunday. It wound up at KD 1.320 with a volume turnover of 9.9 million shares. “There is no motivation to pick up Zain because there is no way you can enter the deal,” Reuters quoted a Kuwait-based trader. “We don’t see the stock rallying at all today.”
Agility was up 10 fils at KD 0.520 recouping the drop in the day before. The counter saw 4.09 million shares change hands. Wataniya Telecom was flat at KD 1.900 with thin trade. The stock gained 4.44 percent during last month and is trading 360 fils higher since the start of the year.

Among other movers, National Investment Co rallied 25 fils adding to the strong gains in the last two sessions. The stock ended at KD 0.450. National Industries Group fell 10 fils to KD 0.390 after trading 3.47 million shares and Kuwait Pipes too eroded 10 fils to end at KD 0.325. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) tumbled 40 fils after surrendering early gains and wound up at KD 1.660. Kuwait Portland Cement dived 40 fils to close at KD 1.500 and Kuwait Foundry Co was down 20 fils at KD 0.760. Combined Group Contracting Co pulled 20 fils lower to KD 1.800 whereas Kuwait Gulf Links added 4 fils to close at KD 0.198. The market opened weak and slipped into red in early trade as profit booking kicked in after the recent gains. The index continued to erode amid moderate selling across the sectors. It hit the day’s lowest level of 6937.9 points and managed to trim the losses slightly at close.

Gainer
The top gainer of the day, ERESCO rallied 7.04 percent to end at KD 0.076 while Al Dar National Real Estate Co climbed 6.9 percent to stand next. Amar For Finance and Leasing Co slid 8.3 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, while Kuwait International Bank topped the volume with 33.51 million shares changing hands during the session. Reflecting the downbeat mood, the losers vastly outnumbered the gainers. 26 stocks advanced while 62 closed lower. Of the 118 counters active on Monday, 29 closed unchanged. 5143 deals worth KD 72.8 million were transacted — down 12.7 percent in value over previous session. The sectors closed mostly in the red. Banking sector rose 0.6 percent whereas investment edged 0.4 percent lower. Insurance slid 2.1 percent and real estate was down 0.3 percent.

Industrial sector dropped 0.8 percent and services eroded 0.7 percent. Food sector dropped 1.2 percent and non-Kuwaiti eased 0.3 percent. The bourse has been weak so far during the week and is down 38 points from Sunday’s opening mark. It has rallied 307 points during September and is trading 1 percent lower year-to date. KSE, with 208 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
The banking stocks closed mixed. National Bank of Kuwait closed flat at KD 1.520 after posting modest gains on Sunday. The counter saw 7.48 million shares change hands. Gulf Bank dropped 10 fils erasing the gains on Sunday and ended at KD 0.520. Commercial Bank climbed 30 fils to KD 0.950 whereas Al Ahli Bank was unchanged at KD 0.570.

Ahli United Bank too held the ground steady at KD 0.520. Fitch Rating Agency has recently affirmed the lender ‘A-’ rating for Long Term Issuer Default (IDR) while the short term IDR received an ‘F2’ rating. Burgan Bank amd Kuwait Finance too did not budge from their previous positions of KD 0.485 and KD 1.180 respectively. Boubyan Bank added 10 fils to settle at KD 0.610. KIPCO fell 5 fils to KD 0.465 after stagnating on Sunday. Securities Group Co was stagnant at KD 0.240 whereas International Finance Co added 9 fils to settle at KD 0.255. Al Maal Investment Co dropped 6 fils to KD 0.106 after trading 18.08 million shares whereas Bayan Investment Co edged 2 fils higher. Global Investment House flunked 2 fils and Al Safat Investment Co eroded 3 fils to settle at KD 0.084. Aref Investment Co inched 1 fils lower to settle at KD 0.059. 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.

Al-Tamdeen Investment Company rose 10 fils to close at KD 0.360 and Noor Financial Investment Co eased 3 fils to KD 0.049. Al Tamdeen has received the approval from the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) to repurchase or divest 10 percent maximum of its issued shares for a six-month period. In the bourse related news, 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. Al-Enmaa Real Estate Company has posted a profit of KD 99,862 and earnings per share of 0.22 fils in the second quarter as compared to a loss of KD 1,508,451 and loss per share 3.35 fils for the same period last year. In the six-month period ending June 30, the company recorded a profit of KD 596,487 and earnings per share of 1.32 fils.

The Industrial and Financial Inv Co announced the financial results for the second quarter and the six months ending June 30, 2010. In the 2nd quarter loss amounted to KD 2,800,493 while loss per share clocked 6.89 fils against profit of KD 552,852 and earnings per share of 1.36 fils for same period in 2009. In the first half of 2010, the loss totaled KD 2,961,684 and loss per share worked out at 7.28 Fils. Kuwait Stock Exchange in its last move has suspended the trading of shares of the following companies for failing to submit the financial results in stipulated time. They are: Safat Global Holding, Investment Dar Company, International Leasing and Investment Co, Villa Moda Life Style, Securities House Company, International Investment Group, Network Holding Co, Al-Ahleia Holding Company, Pearl of Kuwait Real Est. Co, Gulfinvest International Co, Kuwait Financing and Investment Co, Al Madar Finance and Investment Co, Al-Safat Investment Co, Aayan Leasing and Investment Company, Equipment Holding C0 and Al-Abraj Holding Co.