KUWAIT CITY, Feb 5: Kuwait stocks trod water Sunday after pulling lower in the previous session. The index inched 1.6 points higher in choppy trade as investors appeared unimpressed by the election outcome. The trading floor sentiments were subdued even as investors await tangible cues. The market wound up at 5,858 points after hovering in a tight range during the session whereas weighted index rose 1.45 points to settle at 405.96. The volume turnover swelled 23 percent to 256.44 million after receding in the last two sessions. It had hit a multi-month high of 420.8 million on Jan 25th and had held mostly above the 300 million mark in the second half of January. Zain climbed 30 fils adding to the rise in the previous session and wound up at KD 0.880. The counter saw 3.99 million shares change hands.

Agility eased 10 fils to KD 0.355 whereas Wataniya Telecom held the ground unchanged at KD 2.000.
Among other notable movers, Combined Group Contracting Co jumped 40 fils with thin trading to end at KD 1.560. Gulf Cables rose 20 fils to KD 1.460 and Kuwait Portland Cement followed suit to end at KD 0.720. Kuwait Food Co (Americana) added 20 fils to close at KD 1.460. The stock had dropped 40 fils during whole of January. On the downside, KGL Logistics Co fell 4 fils to KD 0.226 and Mashaer Holding Co too was down by same measure. United Industries Co inched 1 fils lower and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co was down 2 fils at KD 0.214. National Industries Group however has unchanged at KD 0.126 after hovering in a small range. The market opened flat and slipped into a shallow trough in early trade. The index seesawed in a narrow range amid trading mostly in mid and small caps. It hit the day’s lowest of 5846.3 points and managed to trim the losses at close.

Climbed
Top gainer of the day, Arkan Real Estate Co climbed 7.81 percent to 69 fils while Ikarus rose 5.8 percent to stand next. Al Safat Investment Co slid 12 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, and Hits Telecom topped the volume with 31.6 million shares.
Mirroring the day’s marginal rise, the winners outled the losers. 41 stocks advanced while 30 closed lower. Of the 101 counters active on Sunday, 29 closed flat. 3850 deals worth KD 27.22 million were transacted — up 4.9 percent in value from last session.
“The main question after the elections is whether anybody who has been newly elected will actually bring about any change,” Reuters quoted a Kuwait-based trader. “There is an indirect impact on the market on sentiment. Overall, the trading pattern has not changed. Small-caps will continue to dominate volumes.”

In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait was flat at KD 1.180 off early highs. The lender had shown a slight growth in 2011 profits. The bank’s top-line matched our expectations, however non-interest income was slightly higher than our forecast on account of investment gains and income from associates,” Reuters quoted Naveed Ahmed, senior financial analyst at Global Investment House earlier last week.
Commercial Bank of was up 10 fils at KD 0.750 while Gulf Bank was unchanged at KD 0.485. The stock had shed 20 during whole of January and has retreated 25 fils from start of the year. Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the session.
Burgan Bank held the ground unchanged at KD 0.465. The lender has won the approval of Central Bank of Kuwait to extend buying back a maximum of 10% of its issued shares for a period of 6 months as of the expiry of the current approval on Feb 5, 2012.
Al Ahli United Bank shed 10 fils to settle at KD 0.880. Kuwait Finance House was down 10 fils at KD 0.850 and Boubyan Bank followed suit. Kuwait International Bank pulled 4 fils lower to KD 0.246 after trading 1.06 million shares.

Flat
International Financial Advisers edged 2 fils on back of 17.9 million shares while investment major KIPCO was flat KD 0.320. National Investment Co climbed 6 fils on back of 3.08 million shares. NIC has won Capital Markets Authority approval to buy back 10% of own shares over 6 month period commencing January 3, 2012 till July 3, 2012.
International Finance Co rose 2 fils and Kuwait Financial Centre followed suit to wind up at KD 0.104. First Investment Co fell 2 fils whereas Al Maal Investment was up 1 fils on back of 5 million shares. Al Madina For Finance and Investment Co took in 2 fils with a volume of 30.68 million shares and Al Tamdeen Investment eased 6 fils.

The bourse was mixed during last week. It closed lower in 3 of the 4 sessions and rose 4.2 points week-on-week. The index had climbed 54.9 pts during whole of January amid political uncertainties. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, NBK Capital, the investment banking arm of the lender, is selling its stake in Saudi fleet leasing and car rental firm Hanco and may also cash out in an initial public offering for its Turkish investment Kilic Deniz.
Alargan International Real Estate Co. announced obtaining the Money Markets Authority to issue bonds up to KD 26.5 million divided over 2 portions with a maturity of 5 years.
KSE has lifted the ban on trading of Ekttitab Holding Co.’s share with effect from Jan 4, 2012. This move follows the fall in shareholders’ holding following the reduction of capital from KD 51,700,000 to KD 22,862,423.

The bourse authorities have announced suspension of Burgan Well Drilling Co with effect from Jan 2, 2012 for failing to pay annual membership fee for 2011/2012.
KSE listed companies have logged a 3.2 percent decline in third quarter profit to hit KD 923 million, according to Al Joman Center for Economic Consultancy. Investment sector, the biggest decliner, saw a 98 percent drop in earnings followed by the real estate sector which eroded 19 percent.
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.