KUWAIT CITY, Dec 19: Kuwait stocks eased slightly on Sunday, snapping the three-day gains. The index retreated 5.5 points amid lacklustre trade even as investors toed caution. The heavyweights were mostly subdued while select middle and low priced scrips moved range bound. The trading floor was bereft of new catalysts even as Zain deal appears to drag on.
The bourse wound up at 6847.70 points paring steeper losses earlier in the day while the weighted index slipped 0.56 points to settle at 476.97 points. The volume turnover receded after posting strong increases in the last two sessions. A total of 164.27 million shares changed hands during the session - down 38.2 percent from Thursday.
National Investment Co, the Kharafi Group owned investment entity, fell 5 fils paring the gains in the previous session. It wound up at KD 0.630 and saw volume turnover of 1.64 million shares. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) slid 40 fils on profit taking after the strong gains on Thursday and closed at KD 1.580.
Bourse heavyweight Zain closed flat at KD 1.520 after vacillating in a 20 fils range. The counter saw 1.83 million shares change hands. Etisalat, had lowered the stake it is seeking in Zain to 40 percent from the earlier 46 percent. Last week a Kuwaiti court said that it would give its verdict this week on a lawsuit from Al Fawares Holding, a Zain shareholder, against the Etisalat’s bid.

Agility too held the ground unchanged at KD 0.510 after posting modest rise on Thursday. It posted a volume turnover of 1.05 million shares. The stock had dropped 8.33 percent in November and has shed 60 fils since start of the year. Wataniya Telecom was unchanged at KD 1.900 while Kuwait Gulf Links eased 4 fils to settle at KD 0.158.
Gulf Cables slid 40 fils to KD 2.000 and United Industries Co eroded 10 fils to settle at KD 0.128. Boubyan Petrochemical Co eased 10 fils while Gulf Rocks shed 20 fils to close at KD 0.110.
On the upside, Kharafi Group’s flagship company, National Industries Group edged 5 fils higher extending the gains in the day before and closed at KD 0.360. Aref Energy Holding Co added 6 fils while United Projects Group closed 10 fils higher at KD 0.410.
Mena Holding edged 4 fils up to settle at KD 0.144 and Soor Fuel Marketing Co rose 10 fils on back of 1.56 million shares to wind up at KD 0.320. Kuwait Pipes added 5 fils to close at KD 0.285. The counter posted a volume turnover of 1.16 million shares.

Slipped
The market opened weak and slipped into red in early trading . The index continued to erode as investors booked profits in select counters after the gains in the previous week. It hit the day’s lowest of 6824.2 points past the mid-session amid negative sentiments and a slight uptick in buying in the final minutes helped pare the losses.
The top gainer of the day, Injazzzat Real Estate Co climbed 6.8 percent to KD 0.078 while Noor Financial Investment Co rose 5.8 percent to stand next. Gulf Rocks slid 15.38 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, while Al Ahliea Holding Co topped the volume with 24.96 million shares changing hands.
The sectoral indices closed narrowly mixed. Banking sector inched 0.1 percent higher while investment eased 0.5 percent. Real estate was up 0.2 percent whereas industrial sector fell 0.3 percent. Services gained 0.4 percent while food slid 1.6 percent - the biggest loser of the day. Non-Kuwaiti slipped 0.6 percent.

The bourse posted modest rise during previous week as the gains in the last three sessions more than recouped the initial losses. It closed higher in 3 of the 5 sessions adding 32 points week-on-week . However it has declined 39 points since the start of the month and is down 1 percent year-to-date. KSE, with 209 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait closed flat at KD 1.340 after trading 2.42 million shares while Gulf Bank rose 10 fils to settle at KD 0.540. Ahli United Bank stagnated at KD 0.170 and Commercial Bank followed suit to wind up at KD 0.910. CBK swung to profit of KD 19.64 million in the third quarter compared to a net loss of KD 2.48 million in the year earlier period. Net profit in the nine months to September came in at KD 20.5 million.

Added
Kuwait International Bank added 5 fils on back of 4.35 million shares to end at KD 0.340 whereas Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the session. Burgan Bank was flat at KD 0.540 after vacillating in a 10 fils range intra-day. The stock had gained 1.92 percent during November and has rallied 200 fils year-to-date. Kuwait Finance House too was unchanged at KD 1.180 with a volume turnover of 2.2 million whereas Boubyan Bank closed 10 fils lower.
Investment major, KIPCO slipped 5 fils to KD 0.450 and Kuwait Finance Centre eased 2 fils. Bayan Investment added 2 fils to settle at KD 0.054 whereas Global Investment House inched 1 fils lower. Global has announced settlement of $ 27 million of the original loan due to creditor banks on December 13, 2010 taking the total amounts settled of principal loan since signing rescheduling agreement to $ 178.3 million.

KAMCO held the ground steady at KD 0.325 and United Real Estate Company sagged was up 1 fils at KD 0.100 The company is planning a capital hike of KD 40 million through issuing 400 million shares at a nominal value of 100 fils and a premium issue of 3 fils.
In the bourse related news AL Safat Real Estate Co. has logged a net loss of KD 745,249 and loss per share of 3.11 fils for the nine months ended on Sep 30. This compares with net loss of KD 3,101,186 and loss per share of 12.92 fils in the same period last year.
International Financial Advisors Co. has posted a net loss of KD 14,977,818 and loss per share of 22.89 fils in the nine months ended on September 30 as against net loss of KD 14,977,818 and loss per share of 22.89 fils in the same period last year.

Noor Financial Investment Co has posted a net loss of KD 24,574,600 in the nine — months period ended on Sept 30 and the loss per share chalked 32 fils. This compares with a net loss of KD 11,972,406 and loss per share of 16.07 fils in the same period last year.
Kuwait Foundry Company has notched a n et profit of KD 4,359,625 and earnings per share of 36.02 fils in the first three quarters of 2010 ending Sept 30 while in the corresponding year last year, the net amounted to KD 6,773,842 and earnings per share read 55.96 fils.
Ahli United Bank has posted a net profit of KD 57,997,907 and an earning per share of 11.8 fils nine months ending Sep 30, 2010 as compared to profit of KD 52,979,859 and earnings per share of 10.9 fils during the same period last year.
Gulf Cement Company announced its results for first the nine months of the year. The net profit clocked KD 5,340,052 while earnings per share stood at 7 fils. In same period last year, the net profit totaled KD 8,375,803 while earnings per share worked out at 10 fils.