KUWAIT CITY, Oct 26: Kuwait stocks pulled lower on Monday, extending its gains to the fourth  consecutive day as sell off continued in select counters amid negative sentiments. The index was down 33.1 points at close, trimming steep losses earlier in the session.
The market winded up at 7454.7 points in volatile trading even as  volume turnover saw a sharp spurt. It has shed 157 points since the start of the week. Weighted index slid 5.8 points to close at 435.35 points.
The day’s decline was led by Zain which dived 5.9 percent following media reports that Indian telecoms firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) feels a $13.7 billion price for 46 percent stake in the firm is expensive. The scrip closed at KD 1.280 with a volume turnover of 7.6 million shares after stagnating in the previous session.  Wataniya Telecom and Agility held the ground unchanged at KD 1.540 and KD 1.200 respectively while National Industries Group extended its early losses by 5 fils. It closed at KD 0.390 with volume turnover of 14.8 million shares.

Kuwait Finance House dropped 1.5 percent to settle at KD 1.240 after fluctuating in a 40 fils  range during the session. It saw over 3.5 million shares changing hands during the session.  KFH, the country’s biggest Islamic lender has said that  its provisions were declining but amounted to KD  460 million. The scrip had climbed 3.12 percent in September and is trading almost 8 percent higher from its 2008 end closing value.
The index has fallen 4.6  percent since the start of the month and  is trading 1.57 percent higher year-to-date. The bourse has dropped sharply from the year’s high of 8371 points reached in the first week of June owing to bleak near term prospects of some of the investment companies and weak earnings across the key sectors, besides a raft  of other factors.

Decliners
Among other notable decliners, National Investment Co dropped 25 fils, extending its losses from previous sessions. It ended at KD 0.450 and posted a volume turnover of 1.7 million shares.  Burgan Well Drilling Co slid 40 fils to close at KD 0.560. Kuwait Foundry Company bucked the trend to climb 40 fils on thin trading. It moved in a broad 50 fils range during the session before closing at KD 0.980.
Kuwait Finance House was especially disappointing, because of its size it is  a major indicator for the market,”  Reuters quoted  Talal al-Loghani, vice president for Gulf equity markets at Kuwait Finance and Investment Co. “The economy is reflected in the banks, that’s natural, and those numbers do not paint a very good picture,” he added. 
Banking stocks closed mostly lower. National Bank of Kuwait closed flat at KD 1.220 after pulling lower on Sunday.  It posted a volume turnover of 5.8 million shares while Gulf Bank edged 5 fils higher to KD 0.330 after posting over 2.4 million shares. Commercial Bank of Kuwait did not move in either direction and closed at KD 0.990.
Bank of Kuwait and Middle East slipped 10 fils to KD 0.490. Burgan Bank rose 5 fils to close at KD 0.405. The scrip had added 4.2 percent in September and is down over 40 percent year-to-date. Boubyan Bank ended 10 fils lower at KD 0.540.
In the bourse related news, Kuwait’s Gulf Bank posted a 98 percent plunge in its third-quarter net profit. Net income came in at KD 469,000 after KD  29.925 million of net profit in the same period in 2008. The lender made a net loss of KD 7.02 million in the first nine months, compared with  KD 85.96 million  of net profit in the year-earlier period.  The bank has said that the  bad loans would weigh on profits through mid-2010 after it used all of the KD  42 million of operating profit from the third quarter as provisions. Kuwait Investment Authority  (KIA)  holds 16 percent stake in the bank. 

Ahli Bank of Kuwait announced its interim financial statements for the periods ended September 30. In the three-month period, net profit reached KD 4,091,000 and earnings per share  worked out at of 4 fils compared to a net profit of KD 25,155,000 and EPS  of 22 fils in the same period last year For nine-month period the lender posted a net profit  of  KD 24,258,000 and earnings per share of 21 fils.
KIPCO rose 5 fils  to wind up at KD 0.490 after fluctuating in a 35 fils range. Securities House Company was up 8 fils at KD 0.114 while Kuwait and Middle East Financial Investment Co edged 4 fils higher. International Investment was almost stagnant at KD 0.069 adding a meager 1 fils while Aref Investment Group eroded 4 fils.
Aayan Leasing and Investment Company inched 2 fils up at KD 0.086 while Bayan Investment Co closed 1 fils lower at KD 0.099. Global Investment House did not budge from its previous close of KD 0.112. The scrip had climbed 5 percent in September but has slid 39 percent. Kuwait Financing and Investment Co rose 8 fils and saw thin trading of 60000 shares. Al Deera Holding Co was up  4 fils while Al Safat Investment Co ended flat at KD 0.122.

Flat
National Real Estate Co closed flat at KD 0.320. Mabanee Co slipped 10 fils to KD 0.700 while Mazaya Holding Co edged 2 fils lower. Gulf Cables rose 20 fils to close at KD 1.940 on back of 1.7 million shares while Kuwait Portland Cement Co fell 10 fils to KD 0.690.
In more of earnings, Kuwait International Bank too has announced its  quarterly and nine-month financial statements for the period ended September 30. In the third quarter the bank incurred a loss of KD 1,157,324 and loss per share of 1.24 fils compared to a net profit of KD 1,927,228 and earnings per share of 2.06 fils for the same period in 2008. In nine-month period net loss reached KD 4,645,651 and loss per share  stood at  4.98 fils.
Gulf Insurance Company recorded a third quarter net profit of KD 1,755,231 and earnings per share of 10.6 fils compared to a net profit of KD 2,457,846 and earnings per share of 15 fils for the same period in 2008. In the nine-month period the net profit dropped to  KD 5,833,136 and earnings per share of 35.4 fils compared to the same period in 2008.

The sectoral indices swung mostly lower. Banking sector fell 0.5 percent while National Investment Co dragged investment sector 0.2 percent lower. The two sectors makes for the bulk of the shares traded in the bourse. Real estate inched 0.1 percent higher while industrials sagged 0.2 percent. Insurance sector was down 0.4 percent.
Services sector dropped 1 percent led by Zain while Kuwait Food Co pulled the food sector 0.9 percent lower. Non-Kuwaitis eased 0.1 percent.
Kuwait stock market retreated 1.23 percent month-on-month in September partly reversing the gains in August. The index closed lower in 12 of the total 17 sessions, eroding 134 points during the month. The index closed lower in 12 of the total 17 sessions, eroding 134 points during the month. Weighted index dropped 2.44 percent month-on-month while volume turnover tapered almost by 25 percent during. 

By John Mathews
Arab Times Staff