Kuwait Stock Exchange market liquidity falls 21.5% to 1.468 billion dinars in January
A special economic report has revealed that liquidity on the Kuwait Stock Exchange declined in January 2026 compared to December 2025, falling to around 1.468 billion dinars (approximately $4.462 billion), down from 1.869 billion dinars (about $5.681 billion) — a decrease of roughly 21.5 percent.
According to the Al-Shall Consulting report issued Saturday, market performance in January was less active than in December. The slowdown was reflected in a drop in the average daily trading value and declines across all price indices, reports Al-Rai daily.
The Premier Market index fell by about 3.9 percent, the Main Market index by 3.4 percent, the General Market index by 3.8 percent, and the Main 50 index by around 1.9 percent.
The report noted that the average daily trading value in January stood at about 77.3 million dinars (roughly $234.9 million), representing a 4.9 percent decline compared to December’s daily average of 81.3 million dinars (around $247 million). It was also 15.1 percent lower than the January 2025 daily average of 91 million dinars (approximately $276.6 million).
Liquidity distribution data showed a high level of concentration. Half of the listed companies accounted for just 2.6 percent of total liquidity, including 50 companies that received only 0.8 percent, while five companies recorded no trading at all.
The Premier Market captured about 1.079 billion dinars (around $3.28 billion), equivalent to 73.5 percent of total exchange liquidity. Within this segment, roughly half of the companies absorbed 85.5 percent of the market’s liquidity, representing about 62.8 percent of the total liquidity of the exchange, while the other half shared the remaining 14.5 percent.
Two companies alone accounted for about 28.4 percent of Premier Market liquidity — 16.7 percent for Kuwait Finance House (KFH) and 11.7 percent for the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK). Together, the two banks attracted around 20.8 percent of total market liquidity.
Meanwhile, the Main Market recorded liquidity of approximately 387.9 million dinars (about $1.1 billion), or 26.5 percent of total exchange liquidity. Within this market, 20 percent of companies accounted for 76.8 percent of liquidity, while the remaining 80 percent received just 23.2 percent, highlighting a similarly high level of liquidity concentration.
The report added that a comparison between the First and Main Markets shows a decline in the Main Market’s share of liquidity in January 2026 compared to the full-year 2025 distribution, when the Premier Market accounted for 56.4 percent of total liquidity, leaving 43.6 percent for the Main Market.
