KUWAIT CITY, Aug 26: In the initial trading session of the week, Boursa Kuwait experienced a notable decline. The General Market Index fell by 0.40 percent, or 28.85 points, ending at 7,135.31 points. Trading activity saw a liquidity of 52.3 million dinars, with 279.4 million shares changing hands through 15,986 transactions. Of the 134 shares traded, 51 saw gains, 58 experienced losses, and 25 remained unchanged.

The Premier Market Index declined by 0.48 percent, or 37.81 points, to close at 7,763.54 points. This segment had a liquidity of 36.3 million dinars, with 115.4 million shares traded across 7,320 transactions. Out of the 34 shares traded, only 8 gained, 20 lost, and 6 stayed unchanged. The Main Market Index also saw a slight drop of 0.01 percent, or 0.30 points, closing at 6,065.35 points, with liquidity amounting to 16 million dinars.

This market saw 164 million shares traded through 8,666 transactions. Among the 100 shares traded, 43 gained, 38 lost, and 19 remained unchanged. Initially, the market showed some promise, with liquidity surging due to substantial purchases of leading stocks. Key stocks such as KFH rose above 720 fils, Al-Safat reached 109 fils, and Boubyan Petrochemicals saw a notable increase. Other leading stocks, including Boubyan Bank, Unicap, Al-Bayt, and Equipment, also saw gains. However, the market experienced turbulence due to news affecting cable shares.

Initial confusion about the implementation of a law led to a significant drop of about 13 percent in Cables shares, which later closed with an 11.5 percent loss after the company clarified it would file a grievance. The negative news regarding Agility’s stock, which fell by 2 percent due to its withdrawal from government land in Mina Abdullah, also impacted market sentiment. Despite geopolitical tensions, such as missile launches from southern Lebanon into northern Israel, the market’s response was primarily driven by internal factors, particularly the issues surrounding cable shares. Consequently, liquidity shifted downward during the last two and a half hours of trading, resulting in a significant loss by the end of the session.

This outcome was contrary to the expectations of a positive turn, which were bolstered by the growth of global market indices the previous Friday evening. In the Gulf region, market indices showed mixed results. The Saudi and Omani market indices rose, while the Qatar and Bahrain indices experienced slight declines. The Kuwaiti index fell by more than half a percentage point, as noted earlier. Oil prices had rebounded last Friday, gaining $2 to reach $79 per barrel of Brent crude.