SWVL on August 25, 2026: why it ran

The day, step by step

• Small cap
• Momentum
• Main move: pre-market
• Catalyst: news
• Float traded 6x
• Bid wall break
• Gap and fade

The day before

SWVL closed August 24 at $1.49. That day it traded between $1.45 and $1.52, and only 1,660 shares changed hands. It was a very quiet stock with a float of 6.02 million shares.

Pre-market: the float traded by 7:39 a.m.

At 7:29 a.m. it was trading near $1.41. At 7:30 a.m. two things landed together. GlobeNewsWire ran: “Swvl Announces $13 Million Strategic Investment Round Priced At-The-Market Under Nasdaq Rules led by the Sawiris Family and Coefficient LP to Anchor Its Next Phase of Growth and U.S. Expansion”. The company also filed a 6-K, a foreign company's current report.

In that same minute the stock went from $1.44 to $1.84. At 7:31 a.m. it hit $2.29, up 64% from the $1.40 low of the 7:30 minute. Then it fell to $1.61 at 7:32 a.m.

It ran again. From $1.71 at 7:33 a.m. it climbed to $3.12 at 7:37 a.m., trading through $3.00 for the first time. At 7:36:58 a buy order of 29,613 shares went through 33 price levels, from $2.50 to $2.86. In the same second a sell order of 32,487 shares went from $2.67 to $2.52. By 7:39 a.m., more shares had traded than exist in the whole float (6.02 million).

It dipped to $2.33 at 7:40 a.m., then pushed to $3.10 at 7:41 a.m. At 7:43 a.m. it printed $3.46, the high so far, 132% above the previous close. Within four minutes it was back at $2.92.

It sagged to $2.74 at 7:49 a.m. Then it came back once more. At 7:59 a.m. it pushed to $3.20, a lower high under the $3.46 top.

8:03: the drop

At 8:02 a.m. it was still near $2.94. In the 8:03 minute it fell to $2.22, with 1.06 million shares traded. It started at 8:03:01, when a sell order of 60,683 shares went through eight price levels, from $2.91 to $2.84. Another sell of 29,988 shares ran from $2.40 to $2.29 at 8:03:53. A third, 37,815 shares from $2.24 to $2.17, came at 8:04:50.

It kept sliding to $1.80 by 8:25 a.m. Then it bounced, with a spike to $2.43 at 8:51 a.m. and $2.57 at 9:24 a.m. Before the open, 30.53 million shares had traded.

The open and the bid at $2.20

It opened at $2.31, up 55% from the previous close, and that was 33% under the pre-market high. A 55,756-share print at $2.33 on Nasdaq came at 9:30:01.

Above the price, a large sell order sat at $2.60 from 9:33 a.m. It peaked at 41,260 shares at 9:37 a.m.

Below the price there was a bid. From 9:41 a.m., a large bid sat at exactly $2.20. It peaked at 42,291 shares at 9:42 a.m.

At 9:45:16 trades at $2.20 began. In 4.5 seconds, 36,186 shares traded at exactly $2.20 and the bid was gone. It wasn't pulled. Sellers hit it. The 9:45 candle went as low as $2.15.

The wall at $2.30

From 10:27 a.m., a large ask wall sat at $2.30. It peaked at 44,461 shares at 10:34 a.m. Through the 10:27–10:40 stretch the price stayed between $2.13 and $2.30.

At 10:41:38, 16,623 shares traded at exactly $2.30 in 1.5 seconds, and by 10:41:40 the wall was gone. The 10:41 candle topped out at $2.32. There was no run from there. By 10:44 it was back at $2.20.

The bigger move was down. At 11:12:48 a sell order of 40,378 shares went through 11 price levels, from $2.11 to $2.01. The 11:12 candle dropped to $1.97 on 155,098 shares. The low after the open was $1.88 at 11:21.

It bounced to $2.19 at 11:41 a.m., and sold off again at 11:44 with a sweep of 27,632 shares from $2.13 to $2.04. From noon to the close it stayed between $2.00 and $2.29, and many minutes had fewer than 5,000 shares.

The close and after hours

It closed at $2.21, 36% under the $3.46 high. The high came before the bell, at 7:43 a.m., 50% above where it opened. Compared with the $1.49 previous close, it was still up 48%.

After hours it reached $2.40 by 5:30 p.m. and the last trade was near $2.22. Volume was 30.53 million before the bell, 8.33 million in the regular session and 0.53 million after hours. Through the close, 38.86 million shares had traded: the float changed hands about 6 times. Relative volume was over 10,000 times normal, and the stock normally trades only a few thousand shares a day.

What to take from it

• After the top, the next push stopped lower. $3.46 at 7:43 a.m., then $3.20 at 7:59 a.m.
• A big bid is not a floor. The 42,291-share bid at $2.20 was hit with 36,186 shares in 4.5 seconds.
• The float traded before the open. By 7:39 a.m. more shares had traded than the float holds, and the stock closed at $2.21, 36% under the high.

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