(MENAFN- Arab Times) Kuwait stocks pulled higher Sunday to breach the 6,000 mark. The index rose 10.56 points to 6005. 84 points extending the gains to the third consecutive day.
The market mood was cautious as investors await the Q3 earnings. KSE was up over 2 percent in September helped by signs of improvement in political situation and government's move to increase future fund contribution. The KSX 15 measure slipped 6.86 points after holding above the 1,000 level for most part of last week while the weighted index edged 1.73 points lower to 417.32 points. The volume turnover retreated 6.23 percent to 450.19 million after hitting the month's highest level in the previous session.
Among the sectors, industrials climbed 0.96 percent to outshine the peers while telecom sector slid 1.74 percent - the biggest loser of the day. Volume wise, real estate accounted for the highest market share of 47.14 percent while financial services and industrials stood next with 32.89 percent and 15.50 percent respectively.
United Projects soared 50 fils to KD 0.600 and Gulf Manufacturing Co climbed 40 fils. National Industries Co added 25 fils and ACICO Industries Co was up 8 fils with thin trading. Boubyan Petrochemical Co gained 20 fils and Equpment Holding Co rose 4 fils on back of 1.02 million shares.
Zain dropped 20 fils to end at KD 0.720 after stagnating in the previous session. The stock has shed 20 fils from start of the month while year-to-date it has retreated 180 fils. Wataniya Telecom was not traded during the session.
Agility pulled up from early lows to close unchanged at KD 0.540 . The company has issued a statement saying it had no news to explain the advance seen in its stock price in last two months.
Value
"Agility sees the movement on its shares in terms of value of the stock or the volume of trades as normal and has no news or data that may justify any extraordinary movement on the stock," the company said in a bourse statement.
"However, the company believes its second-quarter financial results along with a general positive view on the Kuwait stock market could be driving the stock higher", it added.
The market opened choppy and drifted sideways below the red in early trade. The index bottomed at 5975.64 points past the mid-session before clawing back on speculative buying in select counters. It edged higher in final minutes and managed to end in green.
Top gainer of the day, Sokouk Holding Co rallied 9.62 percent to 57 fils while Al Aqaria climbed 9.43 percent to stand next. Future Communications Co tumbled 6.58 percent, the steepest decliner of the day, and Investors Holding Co topped the volume with over 57 million shares.
Despite the day's slight gains, the market spread was skewed towards the losers. 43 stocks advanced whereas 46 closed lower. Of the 133 counters active on Sunday, 44 closed flat. 6487 deals worth 25.22 million were transacted - down 36.75 percent in value from day before.
On the downside, Kuwait Food Co ( Americana) shed 20 fils while ALAFCO eased 10 fils after trading 1.65 million shares. National Industries Group slipped 4 fils offsetting the gains in the previous session. The stock has added 6 fils from start of the month while it has erased 34 fils YTD. Kuwait Portland Cement was down 10 fils.
In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait was flat at KD 0.990 and Gulf Bank too gyrated in tight range before closing unchanged at KD 0.440. Commercial Bank of Kuwait was not traded during the day.
Kuwait Finance House fell 10 fils to KD 0.760 while Burgan Bank stagnated at KD 0.520 off early lows. Al Ahli Bank was unchanged at KD 0.650. ABK has registered a 25.8 per cent year-on-year drop in net profit to KD 28.44 million during the first half of 2012 while earnings per share came in at 14 fils.
Steady
Kuwait International Bank was steady at KD 0.265 and Boubyan Bank followed suit. Ahli United Bank stagnated at KD 0.890. Fitch Ratings has affirmed the AUB's long term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'BBB+' with a stable outlook. The short term IDR and support rating is affirmed at 'F2'and '2' respectively. National Investment Co closed flat at KD 0.116 and International Financial Advisors inched 0.5 points up recouping the loss in the previous session. The company has widened its losses in the first half of 2012 by 135.6% to KD 9 million and in the second-quarter, the losses clocked KD 4.23 million.
KIPCO closed steady at KD 0.116 and KIPCO too did not budge from its earlier close of 0.395. Bayan Investment Co stagnated at 39 fils after trading over 1 million shares.
The company has posted a KD 3.95 million losses and loss per share of 11.02 fils in the January-June period as compared with KD 6.37 million and 17.81 fils per share in year-earlier period.
First Investment Co fell 2 fils to KD 0.124 and Al Maal investment ticked 0.5 fils lower. Noor Financial Investment Co closed flat. The company has slashed its capital by 49,9% from KD 75 million to KD 37.56 million. The equities of the company's shareholders were lowered by 50,1% excluding treasury shares, to offset accumulated losses as directed by the CMA.
KAMCO dropped 8 fils to KD 0.126 while Sokouk Holding Co added 5 fils. KAMCO has obtained the Capital Market Authority approval to buy-back or sell up to 10% of own shares over the period starting Sept 17, 2012.
National Real Estate Co climbed took in 2 fils whereas Salhiya Real Estate and Mabanee Co shed 20 fils each. Mabanee has posted a net profit of KD 14.17 million and earning per share of 23.13 fils in the first half of 2012.
The bourse was mixed during last week. It closed higher in 2 of the 5 sessions and edged 4.74 points up week-on-week. The index has added 23.05 points so far during the month and has climbed 3.7 percent year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, Al-Madar Finance and Investment Co. has recorded a loss of KD 4.6 million and loss per share of 22.51 fils in the first six months of 2012 rising sharply from KD 2.6 million and 13.08 fils LPS in 2011 H1. In the second quarter, the losses amounted to KD 4 million.
Boubyan Petrochemicals Co, has posted profit of KD 101,000 or 0.21 fils per share in the 3-month period ending 31 July 2012 , falling 88.1% from KD 850.5 thousand and EPS of 1.76 fils in the same period last year.
Securities House Co has posted net loss of KD 1,165,040 and loss per share of 1.8 fils in the January-June period as compared to net loss of KD 16,397,844 and loss per share of 25.7 fils in the same period last year.
Housing Finance Co has logged a net profit of KD 61.714 and earnings per share 0.21 fils in the first six months of 2012 as compared to net loss of KD 2.975.336 and loss per share of 10.15 fils in the 2011 H1.
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