(MENAFN- Arab Times) Kuwait stocks retreated Monday on profit booking after the feeble rebound in the previous session. The index, after trading briefly above the red, dropped 27.3 points led by select blue chips and some of the mid-caps.
The trading floor sentiments were skittish even as investors reshuffled their positions ahead of the third quarterly results. The bourse closed at 5811.90 points paring steeper losses earlier in the day while the weighted index eased 2.64 points to 406.29 points.
The volume turnover ticked slightly higher snapping the three-day fall. 127.01 million shares changed hands - up 2 percent from Sunday. The volume had hit a multi-month high of 337.86 million on Sept 13, but retreated thereafter.
Zain fell 10 fils to KD 0.940 erasing the gains in the precious session. The Kuwait telco last week scrapped a joint bid by Kingdom Holding and BATELCO to buy stake in Zain Saudi as the lenders refused to transfer the debt guarantees to the bidders.
Agiliy slipped 5 fils after stagnating in the day before and wound up at KD 0.305. The stock was boosted last month by the media reports that the company is leading an alliance to bid for $240 million stake in Kuwait Airways. Wataniya Telecom was not traded during the month.
Gulf Bank dropped 20 fils to settle at KD 0.500 and Kuwait Finance House closed 10 fils lower at KD 0.900. Capital Intelligence (CI) earlier last month had affirmed the KFH's Foreign Currency Long and Short term ratings at 'A+' and 'A1' respectively, while the Financial Strength Rating is placed at 'BBB+'.
Losers
Among other notable losers, Burgan Well Drilling Co shed 20 fils to KD 0.310 while Aviation Lease and Finance Co fell 5 fils to settle at KD 0.325. Independent Petroleum Group Co was down 20 fils at KD 0.310 and NAPESCO followed suit to wind up at KD 0.310. Kuwait Gulf Links slipped 4 fils after stagnating in the previous session and closed at KD 0.100.
The market opened weak and slipped into red in early trade. The index clawed back from the shallow trough and traded briefly in the positive region to touch the day's highest level of 5846.4 points. It retreated thereafter and bottomed at 5804.8 points in the final minutes and pares losses slightly at close.
"Investor will continue to follow the name (Zain) in a pure investment way and not as a potential M&A," Reuters quoted Sebastien Henin, portfolio manager at The National Investor.
Top gainer of the day, Housing Finance Co (Iskan) climbed 7.04 percent to KD 0.038 while Danah Al Safat Foodstuff Co rose 6.7 percent to stand next. Contracting and Marine Services Co slid 8.9 percent - the worst performer of the day, while Abyaar Real Estate Co topped the volume with 16.48 million shares.
Mirroring the day's decline, the losers outled the winners. 15 stocks advanced whereas 44 closed lower. Of the 98 counters active on Monday, 38 closed flat. 1,732 deals worth over KD 12 million were transacted - down 11.8 percent in value from previous session.
Sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait held the ground unchanged at KD 1.060 with a volume turnover of 0.48 million and Ahli United followed suit to end at KD 0.940.
Kuwait Industrial Bank and Burgan bank too did not budge from the previous closes of KD 0.270 and KD 0.475 respectively. Burgan Bank had gained 50 fils in September but is trading 30 fils lower year-to-date. Boubyan Bank was unchanged at KD 0.600.
Commercial Bank and Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the session. ABK shareholder Mohammad Yousuf Behbehani has received central bank's approval to raise his stake in Al Ahli Bank to 15 percent which will make him the biggest shareholder in the bank. Behbehani currently owns a 4.9 percent stake in the lender and the approval is valid for three months.
Fell
Investment major KIPCO fell 5 fils to KD 0.310 after trading 1.49 million shares while National Investment Co was flat at KD 0.190. Kuwait Financial Centre eased 2 fils and Bayan Investment Co fell 1.5 fils to settle at 26.5 fils. Global Investment House was stagnant at 36.5 fils with a volume turnover of 3.2 million.
The stock had gained 28.5 percent in September but has plunged 30.77 percent since start of the year. Al Safat Investment edged 1 fils lower to 84 fils. National Industries Group and Kuwait Pipes closed flat at KD 0.214 and KD 0.142 respectively while Kuwait Cement Co dived 30 fils to KD 0.500. Gulf Cables was steady at KD 1.480 and Kuwait Portland Cement followed suit.
Boubyan Petrochemical Co was up 10 fils at KD 0.50. The bourse has been weak so far during the week and has shed 22 points from last week close.
The index had gained 42 points during whole of September 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.
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