KUWAIT CITY, Jan 2: Kuwait stocks kicked off new year on low note after posting 17 percent decline in whole of 2011. The index pulled 22.5 points lower Monday weighed by moderate selling in select heavyweights even as investors toed caution after the strong rebound seen in the previous session.
The bourse wound up at 5791.7 points paring steeper losses earlier in the session while weighted index eased 3.1 points to 402.52. The volume turnover plunged 44.5 percent to 74.05 million — the lowest in over 6 weeks. It had held mostly above the 100 million mark during December.
Zain fell 10 fils to KD 0.890 reversing the gains on Thursday and saw volume turnover of 4.3 million shares while Wataniya Telecom was not traded during the day. The stock had gained 40 fils during whole of December.
Agility fell 5 fils to KD 0.370 erasing the gains in the previous session. The logistics service provider earlier in December had bid about KD 25.6 million to acquire a strategic stake in Kuwait Health Assurance Co Kuwait Gulf Links ticked 2 fils lower.
National Bank of Kuwait shed 20 fils after stagnating on Thursday and closed at KD 1.100 after trading 1.2 million shares. The stock had eased 20 fils during December and had shed 320 fils during the whole of 2011.
Burgan Bank fell 5 fils to KD 0.460 and Gulf Bank retreated 15 fils to settle at KD 0.495. Standard & Poor’s earlier in the month has upgraded Gulf Bank’s long-term credit rating of BBB- to BBB, and raised the Bank’s outlook from stable to positive.

Dropped
National Industries Group dropped 12 fils to close at KD 0.248. The stock was down 15 fils during whole of December and had eroded 85 fils during 2011. Kuwait Pipes edged 2 fils lower to KD 0.128 and RISCO shed 8 fils.
On the upside, International Financial Advisers edged 2 fils higher on back of 3.12 million shares and Tamdeen Investment Co rose 4 fils to close at KD 0.160.
The company has obtained the approval of Capital Market Authority to extend buying back a maximum of 10 percent of its shares for a period of 6 months ending on April 16, 2012.
The market opened weak and slipped into red in early trade. The index continued to erode almost an hour into the session amid weak sentiment and moved sideways thereafter. It pulled further lower in the final minutes to bottom at 5781.3 points before clawing back slightly at close.

Top gainer of the day, Safat Energy climbed 5.5 percent to 47.5 fils and International Financial Advisers added 5 fils on back off 3.12 million shares to stand next. Ajial Real Estate and Entertainment Co slid 7.6 percent, the biggest loser of the day, while Soor Fuel topped the volume with 12.3 million shares.
The market spread was skewed towards the losers. 16 stocks advanced while 23 closed lower. Of the 86 counters active on Monday, 23 closed flat. 1139 deals worth over KD 14 million were transacted — down 55 percent in value from the day before.
The market was buffeted by slew of events during 2011 culminating with political developments.. “The change in the prime minister and the makeup of parliament could be a positive step in improving the ongoing impasse between the government and parliaments,” investment bank EFG Hermes said in a note.
In the banking sector, Ahli United Bank eased 5 fils to KD 0.800 whereas Al Ahli Bank was unchanged at KD 0.660. Commercial Bank of Kuwait was not traded during the session. The stock had gained 20 fils during December but has shed 130 fils during whole of 2011. Boubyan Bank closed flat at KD 0.590.

Eased
Kuwait Finance House eased 10 fils to settle at KD 0.890. The Islamic lender has logged KD 25.3 million net profit in the third quarter and in the first nine months the earnings stood at KD 70.8 million. Kuwait International Bank held the ground unchanged at KD 0.255.
Investment major KIPCO fell 5 fils to KD 0.300 whereas National Investment Co closed flat at KD 0.172. Al Mal Investment Co slipped 1 fils and Bayan Investment Co inched 0.5 fils lower.
ALAFCO fell 5 fils to settle at KD 0.310 while Jazeera Airways shed 10 fils. The company has posted a net profit of KD 6.1 million in third quarter, up 36 percent from last year.
The bourse was mixed during last week. It closed lower in 3 of the 5 but gained 19.9 points week-on-week. It has gained a meager 2.6 points during the whole of December and has shed 17 percent during 2011. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, Al Safat Real Estate Co has posted a net loss of KD 1,435,068 and loss per share of 5.98 fils in the first nine-months of the year as compared to a net loss of KD 745,249 and loss per share of 3.11 fils in the same period last year.

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.
The third quarter profit of the KSE listed companies have fallen by 3.2 percent to hit KD 923 million, according to Al Joman Center for Economic Consultancy.
This compares with KD 965 million for the same period last year. Investment sector was the worst performer logging 98 percent drop followed by the real estate sector which slumped by 19 percent
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 logged 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. 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.