KUWAIT CITY, Sept 27: Kuwait stocks retreated Tuesday after posting modest rebound in the previous session. The index dropped 18.6 points in volatile trade led by select heavyweights. Some of the mid-priced stocks too sagged on selling pressure whereas the bank stocks were largely muted.
The bourse trimmed early gains to wind up at 5853.80 points while weighted index eased 1.38 points to settle at 408.98 points. The volume turnover ticked slightly higher after slipping below the 200 million mark in the previous session. 193.31 million shares changed hands — up 1.6 percent from the day before. The index slipped below the 6000 mark on Sep 19 and has closed lower in 8 of the last 10 sessions.
Bourse heavyweight Zain fell 10 fils to KD 0.960 after stagnating on Monday and saw a volume turnover of 1.34 million shares . A Kuwaiti court earlier in the week nullified Zain’s annual shareholders meeting which was held in April , upholding a case filed by a former board member who opposed the election process.
Wataniya Telecom shed 20 fils to end at KD 1.920 whereas Agility held the ground unchanged at KD 0.315 after trading 1.62 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.
Among other notable decliners, National Investment Co fell 2 fils to KD 0.196 with a volume turnover of 2.58 million shares and Securities Group dropped 10 fils to KD 0.230. The counter saw 12.7 million shares change hands.
National Industries Group edged 2 fils lower and Gulf Cables slid 60 fils to settle at KD 1.440. IFA Hotels and Resorts shed 20 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co followed suit. Safwan Trading and Contracting Co dived 50 fils while Combined Group Contracting Co eased 15 fils.

Higher
The market opened on positive note and moved higher in early trade. The index peaked at 5886.4 points but failed to hold on to the gains. It slipped below the red almost half way into the session and hit the day’s lowest level of 5841.3 points. However it slightly pared the losses in the final minutes and closed with moderate loss.
“Everyone is getting rid of their positions because no one is positive in the market,” Reuters quoted a Kuwait-based fund manager on condition of anonymity. “It is not a good place to invest now days... because of volumes.”
Top gainer of the day, Gulf Investment House jumped 8.9 percent to 30.5 fils while Burgan Well Drilling Co climbed 8.4 percent to stand next. Safwan Trading and Contracting Co was the worst performer of the day and Abyaar Real Estate Co topped the volume with 22.4 million shares.
Reflecting the day’s decline, the losers outnumbered the gainers. 31 stocks advanced while 37 closed lower. Of the 104 counters active on Tuesday, 35 closed flat. 2697 deals worth KD 30.150 million were transacted — a 54 percent increase in value from the day before.
In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait was unchanged at KD 1.060 after trading higher earlier in the session and Gulf Bank too did not budge from its previous close of KD 0.500 . The lender last week denied media reports that it trading in derivatives and thereby putting customers’ money at risk.
Al Ahli Bank stagnated at KD 0.820 after trading over 9 million shares whereas Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the session. Burgan Bank eased 5 fils while Kuwait Finance House was flat at KD 0.600. Fitch Ratings earlier in the month downgraded the lender’s Viability Rating to ‘bb+’ from ‘bbb-’, and affirmed the bank’s Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘A+’ with a Stable Outlook.

Unchanged
Investment major KIPCO pared early gains to end unchanged at KD 0.320 and saw a volume turnover of 5.54 million shares whereas Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) rose 4 fils to wind up at KD 0.112.
Al Deera Holding was up 1 fils at 29 fils whereas Al Maal inched 1 fils lower. 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.
Al Safat Investment and Al Tamdeen Investment lost 3 fils and 2 fils respectively whereas Global Investment House crept 0.5 fils higher . The investment banker is seeking to defer the principal repayments on debt due in December as part of renegotiating a $1.7 billion restructuring agreement.
National Real Estate Co was steady at KD 0.074 and Tamdeen Real Estate Co shed 4 fils to close at KD 0.226. Mabanee Co dropped 10 fils to KD 0.810. The stock fell 3.66 percent in whole of August and is trading 20 fils higher since start of the month.

On the upside, ACICO Industries Co rose 10 fils and Ikarus Petroleum Industries Co was up 6 fils at KD 0.156. Independent Petroleum Group gained 20 fils and Jazeera Airways added 5 fils to wind up at KD 0.290.
The bourse has been negative so far during the week and has declined 63 points from last week close.
The benchmark is up 62 points since start of the month but is trading 16 percent lower year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, Zain Iraq, a unit of Kuwait’s Zain said that it was moving forward in the process to be listed on the local bourse after it missed an Aug. 31 deadline for offering its shares.
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 and Network Holding Co.