“Al-Shal”: 1.7 billion dinars – Kuwait Stock Exchange liquidity in August up 10.9% - Sarmad
Kuwait officials, according to a report by Al-Shal Consulting released on Saturday, stated that the Kuwait Stock Exchange’s performance in August 2026 was positive compared to July 2026, as the average daily trading value rose alongside positive performance across all market indices.
The First Market Index rose by approximately 0.8%, the Main Market Index by approximately 5.7%, and the General Market Index (which reflects the combined performance of both markets) by approximately 1.6%. Additionally, the Main Market 50 Index rose by approximately 9.3%.
Absolute stock exchange liquidity was higher in August compared to July, reaching approximately 1.777 billion dinars versus 1.602 billion dinars, representing an increase of 10.9%.
The average daily trading value for August stood at approximately 84.6 million dinars, marking a significant rise of 16.2% compared to the July average of approximately 72.8 million dinars.
Liquidity volume in the stock exchange during the first eight months of the current year (i.e., over 159 working days) amounted to approximately 13.201 billion dinars. Consequently, the average daily trading value for this period reached approximately 83 million dinars, representing a decline of 22.2% compared to the same period in 2025, which had an average daily trading value of approximately 106.7 million dinars. It also declined by 22.9% 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 7.4% of this liquidity. Among them, 50 companies captured just 3.1% of the total liquidity, while two companies recorded no trading activity whatsoever.
In contrast, relatively small and liquid companies benefited significantly: 12 companies, whose market capitalization represents approximately 3.4% of the total value of listed companies, accounted for 19.3% of the stock exchange’s liquidity. This means their share of liquidity was approximately 5.7 times their contribution to market capitalization. This indicates that high liquidity activity continues to exclude nearly half of the listed companies, while strongly favoring companies with minimal market capitalization.
The distribution of liquidity between the two markets during August 2026 was as follows:
The First Market accounted for approximately 1.050 billion Kuwaiti dinars, or 59.1% of the stock exchange’s liquidity. Within this market, approximately half of its listed companies captured 74.3% of its liquidity, representing 43.9% of the total stock exchange liquidity. The other half of the companies captured the remaining 25.7% of its liquidity. Two companies alone accounted for 23.1% of its liquidity: Kuwait Finance House with approximately 14.5% and National Bank of Kuwait with approximately 8.6%. The First Market’s share of total stock exchange trading value during the first eight months of the current year amounted to approximately 66.3%.
The Main Market accounted for approximately 726.1 million Kuwaiti dinars, or 40.9% of the stock exchange’s liquidity. Within this market, 20% of its listed companies captured 72.6% of its liquidity, while the remaining 80% of its companies captured only 27.4% of its liquidity, indicating a similarly high level of liquidity concentration. The Main Market’s share of total stock exchange trading value during the first eight months of the current year amounted to approximately 33.7%.
Comparing the liquidity distribution between the First and Main Markets reveals a decrease in the Main Market’s share of total liquidity in the first eight months of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025. During that period, the First Market’s share was 56.8%, leaving 43.2% for the Main Market’s liquidity.
