KUWAIT CITY, Jan 8: Yesterday, the liquidity of the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange experienced a notable surge, jumping by 27% to a total of 74 million dinars, compared to 53.9 million dinars in the previous Thursday's session. Notably, 65% of the total liquidity was attributed to 10 stocks, including 5 banking stocks, with a total value of 48 million dinars.

The market value of the stock exchange witnessed gains in yesterday's session, adding 386 million dinars, representing a 0.9% increase. The total market value reached 41.52 billion dinars, up from 41.13 billion dinars at the end of the previous week. This marked the fourth consecutive session of gains for the stock exchange.

Among the 10 most widely held stocks, International Finance Advisors (IFA) company stock led the list with 10.8 billion dinars, followed by KFH stock with 9.6 million dinars, Kuwait Real Estate stock with 8.1 million dinars, Arzan stock with 7.7 million dinars, Agility stock with 2.8 million dinars, Boubyan shares with 2.3 million dinars, Al-Khaleej shares with 2.1 million dinars, Warba shares with 1.6 million dinars, and Zain shares with 1.5 million dinars, the same as NBK share.

The concentration of liquidity indicates a focus on banking and leading stocks across various sectors, anticipating the disclosure of final results and the upcoming season of cash distributions. Positive expectations arise from satisfactory distributions to shareholders based on results revealed for the first 9 months of 2023.

In the opening session of the week, indicators and variables demonstrated positivity, collectively rising by 1.05% for the First Market Index, reaching 7729 points. The main index increased by 0.5% to 5,692 points, and the general index rose by 0.94% to 7,030 points. Trading volumes also increased by 31%, with 310 million shares traded.

Seven sectors, led by basic materials with a 2.3% gain, contributed to the market's positive performance. The financial services sector followed with a 1.9% gain, and the banking sector showed a 1.03% increase. At the end of the session, shares of 77 companies recorded gains, while 34 companies experienced declines. Share prices of 11 companies stabilized, and 27 companies did not witness any trading activity.