KUWAIT CITY, Oct 19: Kuwait stocks retreated on Tuesday snapping the two-day advance. The index slid 27 points in volatile trade weighed by moderate profit IN select lenders and blue chips. Some of the industrials also buckled under selling pressure. Investors are awaiting fresh cues before taking up positions even as Zain stake sale impetus appears to have run its course in the trading floor.
The bourse ended at 7,018.80 points paring deeper losses earlier in the session while weighted index fell 4.32 points to 476.39 points. The volume meanwhile receded after recording an impressive rise on Monday. 251.77 million shares were transacted — down 27.4 percent over previous session. The bourse had climbed past the 7,000 benchmark on Oct 11.
The market heavyweight Zain dropped 20 fils after stagnating in the previous session. It wound up at KD 1.400 with a volume turnover of 1.29 million shares. Agility was down 30 fils erasing the gains in the day before and closed at KD 0.560. The counter saw 4.94 million shares change hands. The stock got a fillip earlier in the month after a US judge recommended the dismissal of a case against the logistics major’s subsidiary.

National Investment Co eroded 10 fils to settle at KD 0.485 after trading 4.53 million shares while Kharafi Group flagship company National Industries Group was stagnant at KD 0.380. The stock had rallied 17.5 percent in September and has shed 105 fils since the start of the year.
Sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait slid 40 fils to close at KD 1.380 obliterating the modest gain on Monday and Commercial Bank fell 10 fils to KD 0.900. NBK kicked off the earning season last week announcing a 5.7 percent rise in third-quarter net profit.
Among other decliners, Wataniya Telecom dropped 20 fils to KD 1.900 after posting an identical rise in the previous session while IFA Hotels and Resorts dived 40 fils. Gulf Cables too was down 20 fils at KD 2.020 and Kuwait Portland Cement followed suit to end at KD 1.520. Kuwait Gulf Links however bucked the trend to creep 4 fils higher.

Weak
The market opened weak and fell sharply in early trade as profit taking hit the trading floor. The index slipped below the 7000 point mark hit the day’s lowest of 6990.7 points as selling intensified in some of the heavyweights. It however clawed back marginally thereafter and moved in a narrow range in the final hour. The bourse wound up moderate loss.
“There seems to be no reason behind the performance of Zain but it has been moving up and down in the last few days,” Reuters quoted a Kuwaiti trader. “The market is trading on low volumes. This is a concern for traders and we hope things will improve.”
The top gainer of the day, Kuwait Real Estate Holding Co (Al Aqaria) jumped 6.4 percent to 41 fils while Kuwait International Bank stood a distant second with 3.3 percent rise. Ajwan Gulf Real Estate Co dived 10.52 percent while Abyaar Real Estate Co topped the volume with 65 million shares.

Mirroring the downbeat mood, the market spread was heavily skewed towards the losers. 19 stocks advanced while 52 closed lower. Of the 110 counters active on Tuesday, 38 closed flat. 3974 deals worth KD 36 million were transacted — a 28 percent drop in value over previous session.
The sectoral indices closed mostly lower. Banking sector edged 0.4 percent lower and investment sagged 0.6 percent.
Insurance inched 0.1 percent lower whereas real estate was stagnant. Industrials eroded 0.7 percent and services flunked 0.3 percent. Food sector was down 0.8 percent, the worst performer of the day and non-Kuwaiti eased 0.2 percent.
The bourse has been mixed so far during the week and has added 12 points from Sunday’s opening level. It has climbed 18 points so far during the month and is trading 2 percent higher year-to date. The bourse had rallied 6.75 percent in the July-September quarter, the highest quarterly gain so far during the year.

“The return of mergers & acquisitions deals to the regional market and the large capitalized telecom companies leading the crowd in this regard strengthens the equity markets and brings new pulse to the investors public,” Global Investment House said in a recent note.
In the banking sector Al Ahli Bank and Ahli United Bank added 10 fils each to end at KD 0.680 and KD 0.310 respectively whereas Gulf Bank held the ground unchanged at KD 0.530. The lender expects the third quarter of this year to be a turnaround quarter as it executes a two-year plan to rebuild itself, its chief executive said.
Burgan Bank fell 5 fils to wind up at KD 0.485 after trading 14.3 million shares, the highest in the sector. Kuwait Finance House climbed 20 fils to settle at KD 1.220 partly recouping the drop in the previous session. Boubyan Bank was down 20 fils at KD 0.630.

Eased
Investment major KIPCO eased 5 fils to KD 0.285. KIPCO last month had reached a deal to sell a 39.2 percent stake in Gulf Insurance Co to Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings for $208.6 million. International Financial Advisors inched 1 fils lower and Aref Investment Group followed suit.
Al Maal Investment sliped 4 fils while Bayan Investment Co was down 2 fils at KD 0.066. Global Investment House inched 1 fils lower adding in an identical loss on Monday whereas Al Safat Investment took in 1 fils. In real estate Mabanee Co gained 20 fils and Tamdeen Real Estate rose 5 fils to close at KD 0.300.
In the bourse related news, Kuwait stock exchange has suspended the following companies from trading in the bourse for failing to submit the financial statements in the stipulated time: Safat Global Holding, Investment Dar Company, International Leasing and Investment Co, Villa Moda Life Stylle, Securities House Company, International Investment Group, Network Holding Co, Al-Ahleia Holding Company, Gulfinvest International Co, Aayan Leasing and Investment Company, Equipment Holding Co Pearl of Kwt Real Est Co, and Al-Abraj Holding Co. The companies which were barred for carrying forward losses exceeding 75 percent of capital are: Gulfinvest International Co, Equipment Holding Co, Network Holding Co.

Al Madar Finance and Investment Co has incurred loss amounting to KD 3,721,396 and loss per share of 10.46 fils in the second quarter as against loss of KD 3,280,688 and loss per share of 9.22 fils in same period last year. In the first half of the year it posted a loss of KD 6,945,971 while loss per share chalked 19.53 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.