Kuwait stocks rebounded on Wednesday, led by strong gains in banking stocks and select blue chips. The index soared 88 points in choppy trading, more than recouping the slight decline in the previous session. National Bank of Kuwait and Zain paced the day’s advance even as investors eyed bargains after the slide earlier in the week. The bourse winded up at 7330 points amid a drop in volume turnover. Weighted index climbed 9.76 points to 424.47 points.

NBK surged 5.4 percent, reversing the slight drop in previous session. It winded up at KD 1.200 with volume turnover of 1.2 million shares. The lender had fallen 6.2 percent in October and is trading almost 12 percent lower since the start of the year.

Zain rallied 3.4 percent on back of 4.2 million shares extending the modest gains on Tuesday. It ended at KD 1.200 after fluctuating in a 40 fils range.

Major shareholder Kharafi Group has said earlier in the week that it will not accept less than 2 dinars per share for its stake in the firm. Agility too climbed 40 fils during the session to wind up at KD 1.180 after stagnating on Tuesday.

Wataniya Telecom was up 20 fils and closed at KD 1.500 after moving in 20 fils range. The telecom service provider has registered a 27.7 percent drop in third quarter net profit. The net profit slumped to KD 18.5 million from KD 25.6 million in the 2008 period. Sultan Center rose 8 fils to wind up at KD 0.250 while National Industries Group took in 10 fils after trading over 8.6 million shares.

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