Record Liquidity and Selective Speculation: Kuwait Stock Market Closes Week Amid Rate Decisions and 'FTSE Russell'

Kuwait Stock Exchange indices concluded their weekly trading on Monday amid continued speculation and profit-taking on selected stocks, led by banks due to the repercussions of the Central Bank of Kuwait’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged at 3.5 percent, as well as the semi-annual review of the FTSE Russell index for certain listed shares.

The market opened the week’s sessions with mixed movements, recording liquidity of approximately 123 million dinars (about $376.3 million), distributed across 45.315 million shares through 2.758 million transactions. Strong activity was observed in targeted stocks in the First Market, which accounted for 51 percent of total liquidity, while the Main Market captured the remaining 49 percent.

Looking at the performance of the 13 sectors, the opening session saw nine sectors rise, led by the Technology sector with a 4.54 percent increase, while three sectors declined, headed by the Energy sector with a 0.46 percent drop, and the Utilities sector remained flat.

On Monday’s session, indices continued their gains for the second consecutive day, led by the Main Market, albeit with a slight decline in traded liquidity compared to the previous session, reaching 121.8 million dinars (about $372.7 million). General market indices closed with a notable rise, as nine out of 13 sectors advanced, led by the Technology sector with an 8.20 percent gain, while three sectors declined, headed by the Consumer Goods sector with a 0.26 percent drop. The Utilities sector remained stable, as in the opening session.

Notably, during the second trading day of the week, the market capitalization of listed companies surpassed a new record high of approximately 54.045 billion dinars (about $165.3 billion). This occurred amid selective trading in leading stocks and small- and mid-cap stocks targeted by investment groups seeking quick returns before the close of the third quarter of the year.

The mid-week session outlined the methodology of speculative trading, which continued on the share of one of the Takaful insurance companies, making it one of the most prominent speculative stocks in the market. Profit-taking was observed on many shares, while anticipation built around the execution and review by FTSE Russell, explaining the reasons for injecting more liquidity into the market.

Main indices fluctuated during the session due to anticipation of the Federal Reserve’s decision on monetary policy regarding interest rates. Six sectors rose, led by the Technology sector with a 5.26 percent increase, while seven sectors declined, headed by the Healthcare sector with an 8.99 percent drop.

Wednesday’s session saw a record high in liquidity, reaching 144.2 million dinars (about $442.6 million), despite profit-taking dominating stock trading, which remained highly active. Main indices showed mixed movements at the close, as traders awaited the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision.

Six sectors rose, led by the Healthcare sector with an 8.35 percent increase, while six sectors declined, headed by the Technology sector with a 3.21 percent drop. As usual, the Utilities sector remained stable.

Traders exhibited widespread anticipation regarding the decision of the US Federal Reserve, alongside the execution of the FTSE Russell review (one of the world’s leading providers of competitive indices and financial market classifications). Its periodic review plays a pivotal role in directing foreign investment liquidity flows toward emerging stock exchanges, potentially bringing investment flows that benefit market movement.

It is worth noting that the week’s closure saw the execution of the semi-annual review of FTSE Russell’s indices for Kuwaiti stocks, which included downgrading Jazeera Airways’ share from the small-cap list to the micro-cap list.

The review also involved adding shares of Al-Anzima Al-Automatic (Automated Systems), Inovest, Al-Tijara wa Al-Investments Al-Aqari (Real Estate Trade and Investment), and Trolley for General Trade to the micro-cap list, while removing shares of Burqan for Well Drilling, Trade and Maintenance, Kuwait Cement, and Kuwaiti for Building Factories and Contracting from the same list.

In the week’s final session, the market opened with marginal gains, as traders expressed relief following the Central Bank of Kuwait’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged, a move that reduces the cost of funds.

The Central Bank of Kuwait had maintained the discount rate at its current level of 3.5 percent, affirming that the country’s monetary and financial stability conditions remain strong and that monetary trends align with local economic conditions, which positively reflected on stock market dealings at the close of the week ending the day before yesterday.

The bank also confirmed that the discount rate would remain at 3.5 percent, noting that this level reflects a balanced monetary policy approach between supporting growth and curbing inflationary pressures.

Notably, during the week’s trading, the Main 50 Index continued its rise for the seventh consecutive week, reaching new record highs, driven by the approaching announcement of financial results for the third quarter of the current year.

The market capitalization of shares at the end of the week’s trading stood at 5.33 billion dinars (approximately $16.36 billion), representing a weekly decline of 0.33 percent compared to 5.35 billion dinars (approximately $16.42 billion) at the close of the previous week.

For his part, a report issued today by Al-Shal Consultancies stated, “It does not appear that the war has had a noticeable negative impact on the performance of various stock market sectors, as most sector indices achieved positive performance for the period between the last working day before the US-Iran war, February 24, 2026, and September 15, 2026, although performance varied among them.”

The report added, “What we do not know is the extent of the positive performance of those sector indices had the war not occurred, particularly the banking sector index, which carries the highest weight in contributing to the market capitalization of listed companies.”

The report noted that the best-performing sector was technology, whose index rose by approximately 1,455.6 percent; however, its contribution to the market’s capitalization is marginal, not exceeding 0.3 percent. The second-best performing sector was insurance, whose index rose by approximately 35.8 percent, a rise that is understandable given that higher risks due to the war necessitate higher insurance premiums.

It further stated that the basic materials sector ranked third in performance, with its index rising by approximately 26.4 percent, a justified increase given supply chain disruptions and demand outstripping supply, which inevitably leads to higher prices.

The report pointed out that eight sectors achieved positive but moderate to weak gains, led by the telecommunications sector, whose index gained approximately 11.3 percent. The real estate sector index gained approximately 9.9 percent, the financial services sector gained approximately 7.3 percent, and the healthcare sector gained approximately 5.3 percent.

It indicated that the consumer goods sector achieved gains of approximately 4.9 percent, while three other sectors recorded modest gains: the energy sector gained approximately 3.8 percent, and the industrial sector gained approximately 2.7 percent.

The report added, “What warrants further verification and analysis is the modest gains of the banking sector, which amounted to approximately 1.2 percent, and whether the direct cause was the heat of geopolitical events, the domestic economic environment due to the war, or other factors. Only two sectors posted negative performance: the consumer services sector index lost approximately 1.2 percent, and the utilities sector recorded losses of around 4.9 percent, with their losses remaining within manageable limits.”

The report concluded its market performance analysis by noting that it currently lacks an explanation for the divergent performance of the stock market’s sector indices. However, it can be said that the performance of the stock market’s sector indices was better than expected, considering the scale of the war’s repercussions on public finances and the economy.