KUWAIT CITY, Sept 21: Kuwait stocks retreated further on Wednesday, after stagnating in the previous day. The index dropped 21.1 points weighed by select mid-caps even as some of the heavyweights staged modest rebound. The market sentiments continues to be shaky as investors await the outcomes of the possible strike by some of the KSE employees over the CMA regulations. The market wound up at 5,955 points paring deeper losses earlier in the day whereas weighted index fell 0.4 points to 414.38. The volume turnover ticked higher after receding in the last two sessions. 213.627 million shares changed hands — up 6.4 percent from the day before. The bourse, after climbing past 6,000 points on Sep 13 slipped again below the mark on Tuesday as investors turned wary of the market direction.

Among notable losers, Kuwait Finance House shed 10 fils reversing the gains in the day before. It closed at KD 0.920 and saw a volume turnover of 0.91 million shares. Ahli United Bank too was down 10 fils at KD 0.920 adding to an identical loss on Tuesday. Investment major KIPCO fell 5 fils to KD 0.315 after stagnating in the previous session whereas National Investment Co edged 2 fils lower. It wound up at KD 0.214 and saw a volume turnover of 0.52 million shares. Al Safat Investment Co shed 7 fils to settle at 78 fils while International Financial Advisers inched 0.5 fils lower to 42 fils after trading 11.36 million shares. The company has posted a first half net loss of KD 3,822,539 and loss per share of 5.70 fils.

Added
Bourse heavyweight Zain bucked the trend to gain 10 fils and closed at KD 0.990 and Wataniya Telecom added 20 fils to wind up at KD 1.980. The stock had slipped 2 percent in whole of August and is trading 20 fils higher since start of the month.
Agility held the ground unchanged at KD 0.325 with a volume turnover of 1.25 million shares. The stock was buoyed by the media reports earlier in the month that the company is leading an alliance to bid for $240 million stake in Kuwait Airways.
The market opened weak and slipped into red in early trading as investors exited some of the positions. The index continued to trend lower amid weak sentiments and bottomed at 5949.9 points. However it ticked slightly higher in the final minutes on buying in select heavyweight counters but closed with moderate losses.

Top gainer of the day, NAPESCO climbed 8.19 percent to KD 0.330 while Abyaar rose 7.1 percent to stand next. Al Dar National Real Estate Co slid 9.7 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, while Safat Energy topped the volume with 31.88 million shares.
Reflecting the day’s decline, the losers outnumbered the gainers. 21 stocks advanced while 49 closed lower. Of the 104 counters active on Wednesday, 33 closed flat. 2493 deals worth KD 16.95 million were transacted — down 8.7 percent in value from the day before.
In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait closed flat at KD 1.060 after trading higher earlier in the day and Gulf Bank followed suit to end at KD 0.510. The lender has won the approval of the Central Bank of Kuwait to buy back a maximum of 10 percent of its issued shares for a period of 6 months.
Commercial Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.820 with volume turnover of 1.31 million shares and Burgan Bank stagnated at KD 0.475 after trading in red earlier in the session.

Approval
Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the day. Kuwaiti shareholder Mohammad Yousuf Behbehani has received central bank’s approval to raise his stake in Al Ahli Bank to 15 percent which will make him the biggest shareholder in the bank. Behbehani currently owns a 4.9 percent stake in the lender and the approval is valid for three months.
Global Investment House fell 2.5 fils and Al Safat Investment Co shed 7 fils after trading 24.88 million shares. Al Tamdeen Investment Co was unchanged at KD 0.168.
Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) held the ground unchanged at KD 0.116 and Al Maal followed suit. The company has incurred loss of KD 8,919,361 and loss per share of 16.88 fils in the first six months of 2011 as against net loss of KD 3,932,791 and loss per share of 7.44 fils in the year before. National Industries Group and Kuwait Pipes were flat at KD 0.228 and KD 0.170 respectively whereas Kuwait Portland Cement climbed 20 fils to close at KD 1.100. ACICO Industries Co rose 8 fils while United Industries Co inched 2 fils lower.
ALAFCO and Kuwait Company For Process Plant Construction and Contracting Co fell 5 fils each whereas Jazeera Airways gained 5 fils on back of 1.15 million shares. Kuwait Gulf Links flunked 2 fils after closing flat on Tuesday.

The bourse has been on a retreating mode so far during the week and has dropped 72 points from last week close. The benchmark has advanced 164 points since start of the month but is trading 14 percent lower year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, Al-Safat Investment Co has posted a net loss of KD 9,491,858 and loss per share of 12.30 fils in the first half of 2011 as against net loss of KD 1,052,962 and loss per share of 1.36 fils in the same period last year.
Burgan Well Drilling Co has clocked a net profit of KD 253,359 and earnings per share of 1.21 fils in the second quarter ending June 30. This compares with net profit of KD 145,125 and earnings per share of 0.69 fils in 2010 Q2.

Gulf Finance House has posted KD 193,670 net profit in the first half of 2011 while earnings per share chalked 1 fil. This compares with a net loss of 13,115,943 and loss per share of 29 fils in the same period.
Kuwait Stock Exchange has barred the following companies with from trading in the bourse for failing to pay annual subscription fee of 2011/2012:
International Leasing and Investment Co, National International Holding Co, Pearl of Kwt. Real Est Co, Investors Holding Group Co, Grand Real Estate Projects Co, Kuwait Business Town Real Estate Co, Refrigeration Ind and Storage Company, Mena Holding Co, Villa Moda Life Style, Kuwait National Airways Co, Ras Al Khayma for White Cement, Al-Abraj Holding Co, International Investment Group, Network Holding Co.