Artistic and Geopolitical Factors Behind the Divergence in Kuwait Stock Exchange Transactions Last Week

“Al-Shal”: August liquidity rises to 1.777 billion dinars, and market indicators record positive performance compared to July

The Kuwait Stock Exchange concluded last week’s trading with mixed results across its main indices, driven by technical factors such as accumulation, profit-taking, and position swapping, in addition to developments stemming from geopolitical tensions in the region. These factors heightened caution and prudence among traders when placing buy or sell orders, as they attempted to assess the latest developments.

The declines in many global financial markets during the mid-week session, triggered by these ongoing geopolitical developments, spilled over into Gulf markets, including the Kuwaiti market, affecting the Wednesday and Thursday sessions. This contributed to speculation on certain stocks, as reflected in the figures for transaction values and stock volumes.

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Despite the pressures affecting many traded stocks, the week saw the periodic review of the Kuwait Stock Exchange indices by Morgan Stanley. This opened the door for new investment positions in the main market, boosting traders’ appetite and enhancing circulating liquidity, trading volumes, and the number of deals, thereby increasing traders’ confidence in the market.

Looking at the trading activity of the General Market Index during the week ended, Future Kid, Awal Takaful, Hotels, Rasiate, and Shuaiba were the top gainers, while Gulf T, Sahel, Cinema, Al-Taksees, and Mazaren were the biggest decliners.

For his part, Al-Shal Consultancy stated in a report issued on Saturday that August’s performance was positive compared to July’s. The average daily transaction value rose alongside positive performance across all market indices. The First Market Index increased by approximately 0.8 percent, the Main Market Index by about 5.7 percent, and the General Market Index (which reflects the combined performance of both markets) by roughly 1.6 percent. The Main 50 Index also rose by approximately 9.3 percent.

The report clarified that market liquidity in August was higher than in July, reaching about 1.777 billion Kuwaiti dinars (approximately 5.455 billion US dollars), compared to around 1.602 billion dinars (approximately 4.918 billion dollars), representing an increase of 10.9 percent.

It noted that the average daily transaction value for August reached approximately 84.6 million dinars (about 259.7 million dollars), “which is the most significant,” marking a rise of about 16.2 percent compared to the average for July, which stood at approximately 72.8 million dinars (around 223.4 million dollars).

The report indicated that the total liquidity volume in the first eight months of the current year (covering 159 working days) amounted to approximately 13.201 billion dinars (about 40.527 billion dollars), bringing the average daily transaction value for the period to around 83 million dinars (approximately 254 million dollars). This represents a decline of about 22.2 percent compared to the average daily transaction value for the same period in 2025, which stood at approximately 106.7 million dinars (around 327.5 million dollars).

It further highlighted that liquidity trends since the beginning of the year indicate that half of the listed companies received only 7.4 percent of that liquidity, including 50 companies that captured just 3.1 percent of the total liquidity, while two companies recorded no trading activity at all.

The report added: “Relatively small and liquid companies accounted for 12 firms, with a combined market capitalization of approximately 3.4 percent of the total market value of listed companies, yet they captured about 19.3 percent of the stock exchange’s liquidity. This means their share of liquidity was roughly 5.7 times their contribution to market capitalization, indicating that high liquidity activity continues to exclude nearly half of the listed companies, while strongly favoring firms with minimal market capitalization.”

It noted that the First Market received approximately 1.050 billion dinars (around 3.223 billion US dollars), representing 59.1 percent of the exchange’s total liquidity. Within this market, roughly half of its companies accounted for 74.3 percent of its liquidity, or 43.9 percent of the entire exchange’s liquidity, while the other half received the remainder, amounting to 25.7 percent of its liquidity.

It further indicated that the Main Market received approximately 726.1 million dinars (around 2.2 billion US dollars), or about 40.9 percent of the exchange’s total liquidity. Within this segment, 20 percent of its companies captured 72.6 percent of its liquidity, while the remaining 80 percent of its companies accounted for only 27.4 percent of its liquidity, “indicating that the level of liquidity concentration is also high there.” The Main Market’s share of total trading value on the exchange during the first eight months of the current year amounted to approximately 33.77 percent.

The report concluded by comparing liquidity distribution between the First and Main Markets, noting a decline in the Main Market’s share of total liquidity over the same period in 2026 compared to 2025. In 2025, the First Market accounted for 56.8 percent of liquidity, leaving approximately 43.2 percent for the Main Market.