Al-Shal Report: 19.1% Drop in Average Daily Trading Value Over 9 Months

The performance of September 2026 was mixed compared to August 2026, as the average daily trading value rose despite negative performance across all market indices. The First Market Index declined by approximately 1.3%, the Main Market Index by about 1.5%, and the General Market Index (which reflects the combined performance of both markets) also fell by roughly 1.3%. The Main Market 50 Index experienced a sharper decline of approximately 7.1%.

Al-Shal stated that absolute stock exchange liquidity in September was higher than in August, reaching approximately 2.448 billion dinars compared to 1.777 billion dinars, representing an increase of 37.7%. The average daily trading value for September stood at approximately 111.3 million dinars, marking a significant increase of 31.5% over the August average of 84.6 million dinars.

Liquidity in the stock exchange during the first nine months of the current year (spanning 181 trading days) totaled approximately 15.649 billion dinars, resulting in an average daily trading value of about 86.5 million dinars for the period. This figure represents a decline of 19.1% compared to the average daily trading value for the same period in 2025, which was approximately 106.9 million dinars, and a decrease of 19.7% compared to the 2025 annual average of approximately 107.6 million dinars.

Liquidity trends since the beginning of the year indicate that half of the listed companies accounted for only 8.1% of total liquidity. Among them, 50 companies captured just 3.3% of this liquidity, while two companies recorded no trading activity. Conversely, relatively small and liquid companies benefited disproportionately: 12 companies, representing only 3.8% of the total market capitalization of listed firms, accounted for 19.9% of stock exchange liquidity. This means their share of liquidity was approximately 5.3 times their contribution to market value, indicating that significant liquidity activity continues to exclude about half of the listed companies, while strongly favoring firms with minimal market capitalization.

The distribution of liquidity between the two markets during September 2026 was as follows:

The First Market received approximately 1.251 billion dinars, or 51.1% of total stock exchange liquidity. Within this market, roughly half of its listed companies accounted for 76.6% of its liquidity (or 39.1% of total exchange liquidity), while the other half received the remaining 23.4%. Two companies dominated this segment, capturing approximately 22.1% of its liquidity: Kuwait Finance House accounted for about 12.1%, and International Financial Advisory Holding Company (EVA) for about 10.0%. The First Market’s share of total stock exchange trading value during the first nine months of the current year was approximately 63.9%.

The Main Market received approximately 1.196 billion dinars, or 48.9% of total stock exchange liquidity. Within this market, 20% of its listed companies accounted for 72.1% of its liquidity, while the remaining 80% of companies received only 27.9%, indicating a similarly high level of liquidity concentration. The Main Market’s share of total stock exchange trading value during the first nine months of the current year was approximately 36.1%.

Comparing the liquidity distribution between the First and Main Markets reveals a decline in the Main Market’s share of total liquidity for the year-to-date period in 2026 compared to the same period in 2025. In 2025, the First Market accounted for 56.7% of liquidity, leaving approximately 43.3% for the Main Market.