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

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, alongside developments stemming from geopolitical tensions in the region. These dynamics heightened caution and prudence among traders when placing buy or sell orders, as they sought to interpret the evolving landscape.

The declines in many global financial markets, triggered by successive geopolitical developments during the mid-week session, spilled over into Gulf markets, including the Kuwaiti market, affecting the Wednesday and Thursday sessions. This contributed to speculative trading in certain stocks, as reflected in trading values and volumes.

Despite the pressure on many traded stocks, the week saw the periodic review of the Kuwait Stock Exchange by MSCI indices, which paved the way for new investment positions in the main market. This boosted trader appetite, enhanced liquidity levels, and increased trading volumes and the number of transactions, thereby strengthening market confidence.

Looking at the movement of the General Market Index during the week ending, Future, First Takaful, Hotels, Rasias, and Shuaiba were the top gainers, while Gulf, Sahel, Cinema, Taksees, and Warehouses were the biggest decliners.

In its turn, Al-Shal Consultancy’s report, released on Saturday, stated that August’s performance was positive compared to July’s, with an increase in the average daily trading value and positive performance across all market indices. The First Market Index rose by approximately 0.8%, the Main Market Index by 5.7%, and the General Market Index (which aggregates the performance of both markets) by 1.6%. The Main 50 Index also rose by 9.3%.

The report clarified that stock exchange liquidity in August was higher than in July, reaching approximately 1.777 billion Kuwaiti dinars (about $5.455 billion), compared to 1.602 billion dinars (about $4.918 billion) in July, representing an increase of 10.9%.

It noted that the average daily trading value for August stood at approximately 84.6 million dinars (about $259.7 million), “which is significant,” marking a 16.2% rise from the July average of 72.8 million dinars (about $223.4 million).

The report indicated that total liquidity in the stock exchange during the first eight months of the current year (covering 159 trading days) amounted to approximately 13.201 billion dinars (about $40.527 billion), with an average daily trading value of 83 million dinars (about $254 million). This represents a 22.2% decline compared to the same period in 2025, when the average daily trading value was 106.7 million dinars (about $327.5 million).

It pointed out that liquidity trends since the beginning of the year show that half of the listed companies received only 7.4% of the total liquidity, including 50 companies that captured just 3.1% of the liquidity, while two companies recorded no trading activity.

The report added, “As for relatively small and liquid companies, 12 companies, representing only 3.4% of the total market capitalization of listed firms, accounted for 19.3% of the stock exchange’s liquidity. This means their share of liquidity was 5.7 times their contribution to market value, indicating that high liquidity activity still excludes about half of the listed companies, while conversely, it strongly favors companies with minimal market capitalization.”

It stated that the First Market received approximately 1.050 billion dinars (about $3.223 billion), or 59.1% of the stock exchange’s liquidity. Within this segment, about half of its companies accounted for 74.3% of its liquidity, or 43.9% of the total stock exchange liquidity, while the other half received the remainder, approximately 25.7% of its liquidity.

It further explained that the Main Market received approximately 726.1 million dinars (about $2.2 billion), or 40.9% of the stock exchange’s liquidity. Within this segment, 20% of its companies captured 72.6% of its liquidity, while the remaining 80% of companies received only 27.4% of its liquidity, “indicating a 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 33.77%.

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 for the year-to-date in 2026 compared to the same period in 2025. In 2025, the First Market’s share was 56.8%, leaving 43.2% for the Main Market’s liquidity.