KUWAIT CITY, Oct 4: Kuwait stocks pulled lower Tuesday, adding to the decline in the previous session. The index eased 7.6 points weighed by some of the large and mid-caps amid skittish sentiments. However select heavyweights bucked the market trend to post moderate gains even as investors remain largely wary of the market direction. The bourse has closed lower in five of the last six sessions. The market wound up at 5,804.30 points after trading briefly in green earlier in the session while the weighted index inched 0.51 points lower to 406.8. The volume meanwhile slipped below the 100 million for the first time since end of August. 90.257 million shares changed hands — down 28.9 percent from the day before. KIPCO fell 5 fils to KD 0.305 adding to an identical loss in the previous session while Global Investment House ticked 1 fil lower. It closed at 35.5 fils after trading 1.04 million shares. 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.

Burgan Bank eased 5 fils to KD 0.470 while Kuwait Finance House closed 10 fils lower at KD 0.890. The stock had gained 20 fils during September and is trading 170 fils lower since start of the year. Among other notable decliners, Combined Group Contracting Co slid 40 fils to KD 1.340 and Kuwait Portland Cement Co dropped 20 fils to settle at KD 1.020. Kuwait Cement Co eroded 10 fils and Contracting and Marine Services Co followed suit to wind up at KD 0.200. Bourse heavyweight Zain held the ground unchanged at KD 0.940 after closing lower on Monday. The stock was in limelight last week after the telco scrapped a joint bid by Kingdom Holding and BATELCO to buy stake in Zain Saudi as the lenders refused to transfer the debt guarantees.

Gain
Agility meanwhile bucked the trend to gain 25 fils on back of 8.15 million shares. The stock got a fillip earlier in September on media reports that the company is leading an alliance to bid for $240 million stake in Kuwait Airways. Wataniya Telecom did not budge from its earlier close of KD 1.900. The stock had dropped over 80 fils in September and is trading flat from start of the year. The market opened flat and ticked up briefly in early trade. The index hit the day’s highest level of 5,815.5 points but retreated thereafter as sentiments faltered. It continued to erode well past the mid-session and bottomed at 5,791.8 points before paring the losses slightly at close. Top gainer of the day, Bayan Investment Co spiked 9.4 percent to 29 fils while Agility climbed 8.19 percent to stand next. Kuwait Syrian Holding Co tumbled 8.3 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, while Al Safat Investment Co topped the volume with 8.76 million shares.

The market spread was skewed towards the losers. 18 stocks advanced while 37 closed lower. Of the 87 counters active on Tuesday, 31 closed flat. 1,519 deals worth KD 10.89 million were transacted — down 9.2 percent from the day before.
In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait rose 20 fils on back of 0.59 million shares while Gulf Bank was unchanged at KD 0.500. The lender earlier in September had won the approval of the Central Bank of Kuwait to buy back a maximum of 10% of its issued shares for a period of 6 months starting from the expiry of the current approval on Oct 14, 2011.
Commercial Bank too did not budge from its earlier close of KD 0.820 whereas Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the day. Ahli United Bank fell 10 fils to KD 0.930 and Kuwait International Bank was stagnant at KD 0.270. Boubyan Bank was flat at KD 0.600.

Eased
National Investment Co was unchanged at KD 0.190 whereas Kuwait Financial Centre eased 2 fils to settle at KD 0.108. Bayan Investment added 2.5 fils more than recouping the loss in the previous session.
Al Safat Investment and Al Tamdeen Investment fell 2fils each while International Financial Advisors closed flat at 39 fils. IFA has posted a first half net loss of KD 3,822,539 and loss per share of 5.70 fils as against net loss of KD 11,688,074 and loss per share of 17.86 fils in the same period last year.
National Real Estate gained 5 fils to close at KD 0.75 while Tamdeen Real Estate Co and Mabanee Co were unchanged at KD 0.216 and KD 0.810 respectively. Mazaya Holding was down 2 fils at 58 fils.
National Industries Group rose 2 fils to KD 0.218 on back on 2.4 million shares and Kuwait Pipes added 2 fils. Gulf Cables stagnated at KD 1.480 whereas Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co gained 15 fils.
The bourse has been downbeat so far during the week and has dropped 28 points from last week close. The index had gained 42 points during last month and 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 C Airways Co, Ras Al Khayma for White Cement, Al-Abraj Holding Co, International Investment Group and Network Holding Co.