The Al-Shall Economic Weekly Report stated that trading on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) continues to maintain reasonable levels of activity and liquidity, following a period in which excessive and harmful speculation had driven unsustainable trading volumes.
The report noted that the average daily trading value reached111.4 million dinars (about $339.7 million) during the first ten months of the year, before rising to 129.7 million dinars (around $395.5 million) in the first week of November.
However, Al-Shall described the six weeks following early November as a “positive turnaround”, as average liquidity declined to around 92.5 million dinars (approximately $282 million).
This represents a drop of about 17% compared with the average of the first ten months, and nearly 28.7% lower than the level recorded in the first week of November, reports Al-Anba daily.
The report said the maturity of trading activity became more evident when examining the performance of the top ten most liquid companies.
Liquidity in these stocks declined by 67.6% compared with their average during the first ten months of the year, by about 1% compared with the first week of November, and by 67.5% compared with the average up to the end of that week.
Turnover ratios for nine of the top ten companies declined over the past six weeks, while only one company recorded an increase, with its share turnover reaching 37.3 times on an annualized basis, despite contributing just 0.03% to the market’s total value at the end of last week.
Al-Shall attributed these developments largely to stricter regulatory oversight, along with tough penalties and significant fines imposed on market manipulation cases, which appear to have curbed speculative behavior.
The report concluded by stressing the continued need for an automated monitoring system capable of detecting irregular trading patterns at an early stage, noting that preventive measures are more effective and less costly.
It also emphasized the importance of understanding the factors behind excessive trading activity in small-cap companies, which remain a concern for market stability.
