KUWAIT CITY, June 18: Kuwait stocks staged a rebound on Monday stemming the four-day decline which dragged it to four-month lows. The index climbed 40.89 points in volatile trade to 5948.62 points helped by some of the mid and low priced stocks whereas blue chips remained muted.
The bourse, which slipped below the 6000 mark last week, has been weighed by political worries coupled with weak regional and global cues.
The KSX 15 measure rose 3.01 points to 953.94 points whereas weighted index edged 1.91 points higher. The volume turnover was up by a modest 3.19 percent to 218.43 million. Sectorwise, financial services outpaced the peers with 1.38 percent rise and garnered the highest market volume share of 51.89 percent whereas insurance, the worst performer dropped 1.33 percent.

Kuwait National Cinema Co jumped 40 fils to KD 0.930 and National Industries Co rose 25 fils. Gulf Cables added 20 fils after stagnating in the previous session while Jazeera Airways was up 5 fils at KD 0.390. The stock had slipped 10 fils from start of the month and has erased 65 fils year-to-date.
Kuwait Pipes rose 7 fils while ACICO Industries Co took in 8 fils to end at KD 0.238. City Group Co gained 25 fils and IFA Hotels and Resorts climbed 20 fils. The company’s Board of Directors has recommended hiking the capital through issue of 181.552.800 shares with a nominal value of 100 fils and premium of 130 fils per share.
Bourse heavyweight Zain was flat at KD 0.690 off early lows and Wataniya Telecom pared gains to close unchanged at KD 2.080. Agility stagnated at KD 0.370 after trading 1.66 million shares. The stock has shed 25 fils so far during the month and is up 5 fils YTD.
The market opened on firm note and covered modest ground in early trade. The index however failed to hold on to the gains and retreated amid selling in select counters. It bottomed at 5907.16 points and rebounded thereafter as sentiments turned positive. The bourse continued to climb steadily and wound up at the day’s highest level of 5948.62 points.

Dived
Top gainers of the day, Al Dar National Real Estate Co and Manazel Holding Co climbed 9.62 percent each whereas Fujairah Cement Industries Co dived over 6 percent, the steepest decliner of the day. Gulf Finance House topped the volume with 44.11 million shares.
Reflecting the day’s gain, the market spread was heavily skewed towards the winners. 58 stocks advanced whereas 24 closed lower. Of the 124 counters active on Monday, 38 closed flat. 3944 deals worth KD 19.59 million were transacted - a 32.2 percent surge in value from the previous session.
On the downside, Burgan Well Drilling Co eased 8 fils while Kuwait Foundry Co knocked off 15 fils to wind up at KD 0.285. Kuwait Food Co ( Americana) was down 20 fils at KD 1.240 reversing gains in the previous session. The company has logged a net profit of KD 16.119 million and earnings per share of 41.2 fils in the first quarter of 2012.
In the banking sector, National Bank of Kuwait wiped off early gains to close flat at KD 1.020. The lender has won Central Bank of Kuwait’s approval to buy back or sell 10 percent of its issued shares maximum for additional six months. Commercial Bank too was unchanged at KD 0.760 and Al Ahli Bank was not traded during the session.
Ahli United Bank gained 20 fils and Gulf Bank was up 5 fils on back of 2.13 million shares to end at KD 0.410. The lender’s net profit stood at KD 7.4 million in Q1 while total assets reached KD 4,907 million. The general reserve rose by KD 14 million to KD 104 million.
Kuwait International Bank fell 5 fils to KD 0.420 while Burgan Bank pulled 5 fils lower to KD 0.420 . Kuwait Finance House stagnated at KD 0.690 . The stock had eroded 60 fils so far during the month and has dropped by same measure year-to-date. Boubyan Bank gained 20 fils with a volume of 5.9 million shares.

Higher
KIPCO flatlined at KD 0.320 whereas National Investment Co ticked 2 fils higher. The company has won the approval of Capital Market Authority to buy back or sell a maximum of 10% of its shares for 6 months. International Financial Advisers inched 1 fils higher on back of 3.42 million shares.
Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz) rose 6 fils and First Investment Co add 4 fils to end at KD 0.140. Al Maal Investment was up 1 fils with a volume of 2.35 million shares and Bayan Investment inched 0.5 fils higher. The company has posted Q1 losses of KD 3.66 million or 10.22 fils a share. KAMCO gained 10 fils.
Mabanee Co shed 20 fils offsetting the gains in the previous session while National Real Estate Co was unchanged at KD 0.122. The company has canceled its listing on Dubai Financial Market and the last date to trade its shares in Dubai market will be June 28, 2012.
National Industries Group stagnated at KD 0.208 after trading 4.93 million shares and RISCO followed suit. Kuwait Portland Cement too was unchanged at KD 0.880 while United Industries Co slipped 1 fils. The company has divested of a number of investments in affiliate companies realizing a value of KD 18,660,098 which will be utilized to settle debts.

The bourse had been bearish during last week. It closed lower in 4 of the 5 sessions and plunged 191.53 points week-on-week. The index has dived 326.98 points so far during the month and is trading 2.7 percent higher year-to-date. KSE, with 213 listed companies, is the second largest bourse in the region.
In the bourse related news, Noor Financial Investment Co has posted a net loss of KD 15,153,392 and loss per share of 21 fils in the first quarter as against net loss of KD 30,623,757 and loss per share same of 42 fils in the same period last year.
Al Madina for Finance and Investment Co has incurred a Q1 net loss of KD 585,684 and loss per share Fils 1.52 and net loss of KD 429,972 and loss per share of 1.12 fils in 2011 first quarter.
KSE has suspended 31 listed companies from trading for failing to publish their financial results in stipulated time. The majority of the suspended firms where in the investment sector.
National Petroleum Services logged net profit of KD 392,730 and earnings per share of 7.48 fils in the January-February period - down from KD 725,806 and 13.83 fils in the year before.