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Kuwait benchmark slides 54 points amid choppy trade; NBK, Zain weighs

8 November 2009
KUWAIT CITY, Nov 8: Kuwait stocks flipped direction on Sunday reversing the gains in the past two sessions as profit taking dragged select market heavyweights lower. The index shed 54 points in choppy trading led by National Bank of Kuwait and Zain. The market wound up at 7280 points amid a drop in volume turnover. Weighted index, the performance barometer of prime stocks, fell 5.12 points to settle at 416.31 points.
National Bank of Kuwait slid 3.3 percent after stagnating in the previous session. It ended at KD 1.160 moving in a 40 fils range. The lender had gained 3.28 percent in October and is trading almost 18 percent down since the start of the year.
Zain dived 3.4 percent extending the decline on Thursday. It winded up at KD 1.120 with volume turnover of 3.2 million shares. The telecom service provider's stocks have declined over 25 percent since major shareholder Kharafi Group announced in September that it had agreed to sell a 46-percent stake in to a consortium led by India's Vavasi Group. Last week, India's state-run telecom Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) said it may start direct negotiations for a stake in Zain if its exclusive talks as part of the consortium fail.

Other market movers were largely muted during the session. Agility closed unchanged at KD 1.180 after trading over 1.4 million shares and Wataniya Telecom too followed suit. It winded up at KD 1.480 after closing lower on Thursday. Wataniya had fallen 5.95 percent in October and is trading over 18 percent lower since the start of 2009. National Indsutries Group was up 10 fils at close with over 4 million shares changing hands. The bourse had been downbeat during the past week inspite of strong rebound seen on Wednesday . It closed higher in three of the five days in volatile trading and has eroded 91 points during the week. The index is down 4.34 percent year-to-date. The bourse had rallied strongly in April and May, but retreated in the middle of June as investor sentiments were battered by weak earnings and sliding oil prices besides other factors.

Decliners
Among the other decliners, Kuwait Food Co (Americana) plunged 100 fils extending the heavy losses on the last day. It closed at KD 1.620. Gulf Cables slid 60 fils to wind up at KD 1.780 while Kuwait Foundry Co was down 20 fils at close with thin trading volume.
Banking stocks closed mostly flat. Gulf Bank edged 5 fils higher to KD 0.320 on back of 3.4 million shares while Commercial Bank was not traded during the day. Bank of Kuwait and Middle East and Al Ahli Bank too was not open during the session. ABK's third-quarter net profit dropped 83.7 percent to KD 4.09 million compared to KD 25.16 million in the same period last year. Earnings per share fell to 4 fils. The bank has sued Saudi Arabian conglomerate Saad Group for $125 million for alleged breach of contract and fraud over a credit agreement.
Kuwait Finance House closed unchanged at close after fluctuating in a 20 fils range. It ended at KD 1.180 and saw over 1.06 million shares changing hands during the session. The Islamic lender had netted a profit of KD 34.3 million in third-quarter. Boubyan Bank and Burgan Bank too did not budge from their previous levels.

In the bourse related news, Independent Petroleum Group has announced its interim financial statements for the periods ended Sep 30. Three-month period net profit reached KD 1,603,927 and earnings per share of 11.10 fils compared to a net profit of KD 903,747 and earnings per share of 6.11 fils for the same period in 2008. In the nine-month period the company notched a net profit of KD 4,236,753 and earnings per share stood at of 29.28 fils.
Kuwait Gypsum Manufacturing & Trading Company has logged a profit of KD 111,209 and earnings per share of 3.72 fils in the quarter ending Sep 30, compared to a net profit of KD 142,358 and earnings per share of 4.76 fils in the same period in 2008. In the nine-month period ended the company posted a net profit of KD 511,515 and earnings per share of 16.56 fils. Investment stocks moved in a close range during the day. KIPCO eased 10 fils to end at KD 0.475 while Kuwait Financial Centre Company held the ground unchanged at KD 0.124. International Investment Group inched 2 fils lower to KD 0.056 while Aayan Leasing and Investment Co fell 1 fils whereas Bayan Investment Co was unchanged at KD 0.091. Global Investment House stagnated at KD 0.102 after closing lower on Thursday. Al Madina For Finance and Investment Co dropped 8 fils after posting a volume turnover of 4.2 million shares while Noor Financial Investment Company eased 2 fils to settle at KD 0.108. The stock had rallied 10.34 percent in October and is up 12.5 percent year-to-date. Al Tamdeen Investment Co eroded 8 fils to close at KD 0.126 whereas Boubyan Petrochemical Co fell 5 fils. Mena Holding was down 15 fils at close.

Raise
Al-Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC) announced that it is preparing to raise $100 million in a syndicated loan facility from local and regional banks. The funds will be used to finance the construction of a new production line of petrochemicals, within QPIC's strategy to expand operations and diversify its income sources. The market opened on negative note and slid below the red in early trade. The index continued to decline as profit taking and sell-offs in select counters dominated the trading floor. It moved in a close range past the mid-session and closed well below the opening level.
The volume turnover shrank 22.7 percent to 292 million after swelling close to 400 million mark in the previous session. After starting off the month at 143 million, the trading volume has so far swelled three times above the 300 million level.
Kuwait Stock Exchange announced that based on the Market Committee decision No 16, the following three companies have been suspended from trading: - Al Dar Investment Company , International Leasing and Investment Company and Villa Moda Lifestyle Company. Due to the non payment of the annual subscription fees for the year 2009-10, the following companies have been suspended from trading: - Al Safat Global Holding Company -- Network Holding Company

Whereas based on the Market Committee decision No 4/97, the following six companies have been suspended from trading: - Al Dar Investment Company, International Leasing and Investment Company, Pearl of Kuwait Real Estate Company, Network Holding Company, Al Safat Global Holding Company and Villa Moda Lifestyle Company.
The market spread was biased towards the losers. 26 stocks advanced while 69 closed lower. Of the 117 counters active on Sunday, 22 closed unchanged. 4429 deals worth KD 40.45 million were transacted -- down 6.5 percent from the previous day. KSE, with over 200 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.

© Arab Times 2009