Trading activity on the Kuwait Stock Exchange surged at the close of August, with session liquidity rising 40.4% to 120.7 million dinars as the periodic review of MSCI indices triggered portfolio re-balancing and investment-position adjustments.
Trading value increased by 34.76 million dinars from 85.94 million dinars on Sunday, while trading volume climbed to 391.02 million shares from 336.52 million. The number of transactions also rose to 26,120, compared with 23,700 in the previous session.
The final session capped a positive month for the Kuwait market, which added about 872 million dinars in market capitalization during August. The market value of listed shares increased 1.66% to 53.29 billion dinars, compared with 52.42 billion dinars at the end of July.
Monthly trading indicators also strengthened. Market liquidity rose 11.25% to 1.78 billion dinars, while trading volume increased 4.13% to 6.55 billion shares. The number of transactions climbed 8.74% to about 459,290.
Small- and medium-cap stocks outperformed blue-chip shares during the month. The Main Market Index gained 5.65%, while the Main 50 Index jumped 9.33%. By comparison, the First Market Index advanced 0.79%.
The First Market Index ended August at 9,288.3 points, up 72.82 points from July. The General Market Index rose 1.61%, or 140.72 points, to 8,897.4 points. The Main Market Index closed at 9,230.47 points, gaining 493.91 points during the month, while the Main 50 Index ended at 10,998.34 points, with a monthly gain of 938.95 points.
At the sector level, 11 sectors recorded monthly gains. Technology led the advance with a 127.81% increase, while healthcare fell 5.19% and utilities declined 3.45%. Financial services remained the market’s largest source of trading activity, accounting for 43.09% of total volume, or 2.82 billion shares. The sector also represented 30.62% of liquidity, worth 543.82 million dinars, and 27.39% of transactions, totaling 125,790 deals.
Among individual stocks, Systems recorded the largest monthly gain, rising 127.82%. Privatization led trading volumes with 370.83 million shares changing hands after its share price gained 24.46% during August.
Kuwait Finance House (KFH) remained the leading stock by trading value, attracting 152.36 million dinars in monthly liquidity, despite a 1.91% decline in its share price during the month.
The market’s performance was supported by listed companies’ financial results and activity surrounding major government and investment projects. The results of 131 listed companies showed a 7.94% year-on-year increase in first-half 2026 net profits to about 1.36 billion dinars.
The same companies recorded 5.58% growth in total assets to 190.14 billion dinars by the end of June 2026, compared with 180.09 billion dinars a year earlier. Net profits in the second quarter alone rose 89.72% year-on-year to 969.5 million dinars.
Meanwhile, 10 listed companies approved interim dividends for the first half of 2026 totaling 306.74 million dinars. August also saw activity involving major government and investment projects, including a real estate developer project, the pre-qualification of 22 consortia for Public Authority for Housing Welfare projects, oil-sector investment activity and bank sukuk issuances.
The month therefore ended with gains across key market indicators, stronger trading activity and particularly strong performance from small- and medium-sized stocks. The final-session surge linked to the MSCI review pushed liquidity above 120 million dinars and brought August trading to an active close.
