The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended last week on a strong note, fueled by the US Federal Reserve and Central Bank of Kuwait’s decision to cut interest rates by 25 basis points, bringing the rate down to 3.5% from 3.75%.
The move is expected to lower financing costs for companies and encourage investment in financial markets, boosting investor appetite and injecting additional liquidity, particularly into banking sector stocks.
The main indices closed with robust gains: the General Market Index rose 2.26%, while the Premier Market index jumped 2.36%, reaching a record high of 9701.34 points for the first time.
The Main Market index increased by 1.79%, and the Main 50 index surged 2.78% to 8612.54 points. These gains lifted the market capitalization by approximately 1.2 billion dinars to 53.96 billion, up from 52.76 billion the previous week, marking a 2.27% growth.
The Premier Market led the gains, adding 1.037 billion dinars to close at 44.66 billion, while the Main Market rose 168 million dinars to 9.29 billion.
Trading activity also picked up significantly: liquidity increased 37.2% to 525.68 million dinars, with the First Market accounting for 59.7% of total liquidity (314.15 million dinars). The traded quantity jumped 48% to 2.19 billion shares, and the number of transactions rose 11% to 122,297.
The market responded quickly to the discount rate cut to 3.5%, with market capitalization rising 0.56% in Wednesday’s session, adding 301 million dinars. The First Market contributed 217 million dinars, with its index up 0.49%, while the General Market index gained 0.48%, the Main 50 rose 0.12%, and the Main index climbed 0.43%.
The robust performance reflects growing investor confidence following the interest rate reduction and highlights the market’s resilience, particularly in key sectors like banking and finance.
