"Al-Shal": Individual investors net buyers at Kuwait Stock Exchange with 64 million dinars
A report by Al-Shal Consultancy showed that the share of institutions and companies in Kuwait Stock Exchange trading increased during the first nine months of 2026, accounting for 67.2% of the total value of shares sold and 66.9% of the value of shares purchased by the end of September, compared to 61.3% and 62.9% respectively in the same period last year.
Based on data from the Kuwait Clearing Company, the report clarified that institutions and companies sold shares worth 10.678 billion dinars and purchased shares worth approximately 10.627 billion dinars, recording a net sale of approximately 51.4 million dinars.
Conversely, individual investors recorded a net purchase of approximately 64.2 million dinars, after their purchases reached 4.784 billion dinars against sales of approximately 4.720 billion dinars. Despite this, their share of total purchases declined to 30.1%, compared to 35.3% in the same period of 2025, while their share of sales dropped to 29.7%, down from 36.9%.
The report noted that the share of client accounts ("portfolios") in trading rose to 2.6% of total purchases and sales, compared to 1.3% in the corresponding period of the previous year, while investment funds accounted for 0.4% of purchases and 0.5% of sales.
Local Investors in the Lead
Regarding the nationalities of traders, Kuwaiti investors continued to hold the largest share of transactions. Their purchases reached 13.310 billion dinars, equivalent to 83.8% of total purchases, while their sales reached 12.969 billion dinars, representing 81.6% of total sales, with a net purchase of approximately 341 million dinars.
In contrast, investors of other nationalities recorded a net sale of approximately 291.5 million dinars, while Gulf investors recorded a net sale of approximately 49.5 million dinars.
The relative distribution of trading by nationality changed, as the share of Kuwaitis declined to 82.7%, compared to 86% in the corresponding period last year. Meanwhile, the share of investors from other nationalities rose to 15.9%, compared to 12.3%, and the share of Gulf investors reached 1.4%, down from 1.7%.
Liquidity and Book Values
In its reading of market performance, Al-Shal stated that stock exchange liquidity decreased by 19.1% during the first nine months of 2026 compared to the same period last year. The general index declined by approximately 1.4% from the end of 2025 to the end of September, following gains of 21% during the previous year.
The report linked the index's movement trend to declining liquidity, amid risks of geopolitical environment instability, noting the continued disparity in liquidity distribution between the First Market and the Main Market, as well as among listed companies.
The First Market accounted for 63.9% of the liquidity in the first nine months of the year, compared to 56.4% during all of 2025. Furthermore, 91.9% of the stock exchange's liquidity went to half of the listed companies, while the other half received only 8.1%, reflecting the concentration of trading in a limited number of companies.
Regarding the gap between market prices and book values, the report showed that the share prices of 108 companies, representing approximately 77.7% of listed companies, exceeded their book values by varying percentages, including 40 companies whose share prices exceeded twice their book value. Conversely, 31 companies were traded at less than their book values, including 10 companies at a discount ranging between 30% and 49%, and one company at a discount exceeding 50%.
The report highlighted that the number of active trading accounts reached approximately 57,500 accounts by the end of September, an increase of 3.4% from the end of August and a rise of 20.6% compared to the end of December 2025, indicating an expansion in the base of active accounts during the period.
