KUWAIT CITY, Dec 14: Kuwait stocks trod water Wednesday after eking modest gains in the previous session. The index slipped 1.1 points in lackluster trade weighed by selling in select heavyweights and some the mid-caps. The investors remain wary of the market direction amid the political uncertainties. The bourse wound up at 5,841.30 points trimming steeper losses earlier in the session while the weighted index edged 1.65 points lower to 409.93. The volume turnover swelled 17.6 percent to 173.6 million. It has been hovering mostly below the 200 million mark so far during the month and had hit a two-month high on Monday.

National Bank of Kuwait shed 20 fils erasing the gains on Tuesday and wound up at KD 1.140 while Ahli United Bank was down 10 fils. The lender closed at KD 0.810. Gulf Bank however held the ground unchanged at KD 0.510 after trading 13.65 million shares. Investment major KIPCO fell 5 fils to KD 0.310 with a volume of 6.28 million shares and Kuwait Financial Centre Company edged 2 fils lower. It ended at KD 0.122. Al Maal Investment Co too was down 2 fils at 53 fils and Bayan Investment eased 0.5 fils to 33 fils. Zain was steady at KD 0.900 off early lows and Agility too did not budge from its previous close of KD 0.390 after trading 1.35 million shares. The logistics service provider has posted a 42 percent fall in third-quarter net profit. Wataniya Telecom shed 20 fils to end at KD 1.960.

Decliners
Among other notable decliners, IFA Hotels and Resorts slid 50 fils to KD 0.430 and Kuwait Foundry Co was down 25 fils at KD 0.460. Kuwait Gulf Links slipped 2 fils to KD 0.106 after stagnating on Tuesday. The stock is trading 50 fils lower year-to-date. The bourse opened weak and edged lower in early trading as investors exited select counters. The index continued to erode amid weak sentiments and hit the day’s lowest level of 5816.1 points in the final minutes. However it managed to pare the losses to a great extent before closing slightly below the red. Top gainer of the day, Al Rai Media Group jumped 8.47 percent to KD 0.128 while Kuwait Insurance Co rose 8.33 percent to stand next. Kuwait Clinic slid 15.38 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, while International Financial Advisors topped the volume with 35.20 million shares.

The market spread was skewed towards the losers. 23 stocks advanced while 39 closed lower. Of the 100 counters active on Wednesday, 37 closed flat. 1732 deals worth KD 18.80 million were transacted - up 1.5 percent in value from the day before.
In the banking sector, Burgan Bank closed flat at KD 0.470 and Kuwait Finance House followed suit to end at KD 0.900. The Islamic lender had gained 20 fils during whole of November and is trading 260 fils lower from start of the year. Commercial Bank and Al Ahli Bank were not traded during the session.
Boubyan Bank stagnated at KD 0.600 after drifting into red earlier in the day and Kuwait International Bank too was unchanged at KD 0.260. KIB’s operating revenue rose 11% to KD 26.7 million in the third quarter. Net earnings stood at KD 8.2 million and KD 4.7 million was allocated in provisions.
National Investment Co stagnated at KD 0.196. The company has posted a 79.7% drop in net earnings to KD 1.26 million in the third quarter as compared to KD 6.22 million in year-earlier period. Tamdeen Investment Co edged 2 fils lower to KD 0.228.

Fell
National Real Estate Co fell 2 fils with a volume of 1.7 million shares whereas Salhiya Real Estate took in 2 fils to end at KD 0.206. Tamdeen Real Estate Co was down 2 fils at KD 0.228. The company has posted a 5.4% rise in net earnings to KD 3.9 million during the first nine months of 2011 and in the third-quarter, the profit surged 3640 percent.
National Industries Group was flat at KD 0.260 whereas Kuwait Pipes and RISCO shed 4 fils each. Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co rose 10 fils while United Industries Co and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co fell 2 fils each.
Automated Systems Co climbed 8 fils and Combined Group Contracting Co rose 20 fils to KD 1.500. Sultan Center Food Co fell 2 fils. The company chalked net losses of KD 5.6 million or 10 fils per share, for the first nine months of 2011. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) stagnated at KD 1.460.
ALAFCO was down 5 fils at KD 0.320 whereas Jazeera Airways jumped 25 fils to KD 0.470. The company has posted a net profit of KD 6.1 million in third quarter, up 36 percent from last year while in the first nine-months the earnings stood at KD 9.2 million.

The bourse has downbeat so far during the week and has eroded 25.7 points from close of last week. However it has gained 29.7 points from start of the 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, Al Aman Investment Co has posted a net loss of KD 1,581,185 and loss per share 3.3 fils in the nine-month period ending Sep 30. This compares with net profit of KD 738,187 and earnings per share of 1.5 fils in the same period last year.
Kuwait bourse authorities have halted trading in Global Investment House saying its accumulated losses to the end of September had exceeded 75 percent of its capital, contravening market rules.

Global has posted a net loss of KD 54,224,000 and loss per share of 44 fils in the nine-months period ending September 2011 as against net loss of KD 46,241,000 and loss per share of 38 fils in the same period last year.
International Finance Co announced has posted net loss of KD 4,609,831 and loss per share of 7.42 fils in the first six months of the year as against net loss of KD 3,654,802 and loss per share of 7.86 fils in the same period last year.
Aref Investment Group (AIG) announced that Developmental Projects Holding Company, fully owned by Kuwait Finance House, has made an offer to acquire AIG’s 72 percent share in Aref Energy Company for a total value of KD 73,090,697.