Monday 21 / October / 2024
Muscat: In line with the rest of the GCC stock markets Oman’s benchmark Muscat Securities Exchange (MSX) witnessed a decline during September-2022, according to a new report.
“However, the decline in the MSX30 index was the smallest in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) at 1.2 per cent to close at 4,528.3 points,” Kuwait- based investment, strategy & research firm Kamco Invest, said in its “GCC Equity Markets Monthly for September 2022.”
“Similarly, the MSX Sharia index showed a marginally stronger monthly decline of 1.58 per cent during September-2022,” the report further added.
Consistent gains over the previous three months before September 2022 pushed the MSX 30 Index to the number two position in the GCC in terms of year-to-date (YTD) 2022 returns that reached 9.7 per cent at the end of September-2022.
In terms of sectoral performance, all three reported segments closed in the red during September-2022. The Industrial Index, the previous month's largest monthly gainer, registered the largest decline during the month at 4.6 per cent followed by Services and Financial indices with monthly declines of 3 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively, the Kamco Invest report said.
In terms of company performance, SMN Power Holding topped the gainers' list with a gain of 21.4 per cent. Dhofar International Development and Al Ahlia Insurance followed as the second and third largest gainers with 12.7 per cent and 9.8 per cent share price increases, respectively. Al Ahlia Insurance has recently appointed a new CEO who has received the necessary regulatory approvals.
On the decliners side, Al Hassan Engineering Company reported a decline of 45.5 per cent followed by Dhofar Generating Company and Raysut Cement Company with declines of 20 per cent and 16.7 per cent, respectively.
The trading activity showed a steep decline during September-2022 after witnessing gains in August-2022. The monthly value of shares traded reached the lowest level since the start of the year to reach OMR44.4 million against OMR77.7 million during August-2022, a fall of 42.8 per cent. The monthly volume of shares traded also reached its lowest level since the start of the year at 184.7 recording a decline of 41.2 per cent as compared to 314.3 million shares during August-2022.
Bank Muscat topped the monthly value traded chart for the second consecutive month with trades at OMR25.2 million followed by Galfar Engineering and Bank Dhofar with total trades at OMR17.5 million and OMR14.4 million, respectively. In terms of volume of trades, Bank Muscat again topped with 14.7 million shares followed by Omantel and Galfar Engineering with volume at 3.3 million shares and 2.9 million shares, respectively.
In terms of investor participation, the value of shares bought by non-Omanis investors reached OMR8 million recording 17.4 per cent growth. Comparatively, the value of shares bought by Omanis reached OMR40 million recording an increase of 82.6 per cent.
In economic news, Oman’s nominal gross domestic product (GDP) jumped 32.4 per cent during the first half of 2022 registering the fastest economic expansion in more than 10 years, according to official Omani data. The Sultanate’s nominal GDP reached OMR20.3 billion ($52.7 billion) during the first half of 2022 as compared to OMR15.3 billion ($40 billion) in the first half of 2021.
The strong growth in the nominal GDP was broad-based as key sectors registered robust expansion during the first half of 2022. The Sultanate’s hydrocarbon GDP surged 70.9 per cent to reach OMR6.9 billion ($17.9 billion) during the first half of 2022 up from OMR4.6 billion ($12 billion) during the corresponding period of 2021 mainly led by the year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in crude oil price. Comparatively, Oman’s non-oil GDP recorded 14.9 per cent y-o-y growth during the first half of 2022 to reach OMR13.1 billion ($34 billion).
Dubai Financial Market (DFM)
The DFM General Index reported losses for the first time in three months during September-2022. The benchmark witnessed a 3.0 per cent decline to close the month at 3,339.2 points. The index witnessed consistent gains during the middle half of the month but suffered most of the decline during the last part of the month.
The monthly decline dragged down the YTD-2022 return for the index to 4.5 per cent, the third smallest in the GCC. In terms of sector performance, the Consumer Staples index witnessed the biggest index decline among the sector indices with an 18.4 per cent fall during September to close the month at 157.8 points.
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange
Abu Dhabi witnessed the second-smallest decline in the GCC during September-2022 following gains during the previous two months. The FTSE ADX index was down by 1.3 per cent during September-2022 to close at 9,750.8 points. In terms of sector performance, only two out of the ten sector indices witnessed a positive monthly gain while the remaining eight indices’ sectors suffered a monthly fall during September-2022. The Real Estate index recorded the biggest monthly fall among the indices with an 11.9 per cent decline mainly on the back of Eshraq Investments’ 17.6 per cent decline during the month.
Saudi Arabia (Tadawul)
The Saudi Stock Exchange reported the second-biggest monthly decline in the GCC from September–2022 led by a global sell-off triggered by persistent worries about interest rates with inflation being a key focus for investors.
The Saudi bourse hit its lowest closing level in almost 10 months on 26-September-2022 at 10,909.18 points but consistent gains during the last three trading sessions pulled the index up above the 11,000 mark to close at 11,405.3 points, witnessing a monthly decline of 7.1 per cent, its biggest monthly drop since June-2022. The decline in TASI also affected the benchmark’s YTD-22 performance which now stands at 1.1 per cent. During the month, the Saudi Central Bank increased its key interest rates by 75 basis points to 3.75 per cent and its reverse repo rate to 3.25 per cent after the US Fed raised the rate by 75 bps.
Boursa Kuwait
Kuwaiti benchmarks witnessed the biggest monthly decline in 2.5 years during September-2022 following a broad-based decline that affected most sectors in the region as well as globally. In terms of market segments, the Main 50 Index witnessed the biggest monthly decline of 10.3 per cent as the performance of constituent stocks in the index was skewed downwards. The Premier Market Index and the All-Share Market Index reported a monthly decline of 7.5 per cent and 7.8 per cent, respectively, while the Main Market index receded 9.0 per cent during the month.
Qatar Exchange
The Qatar Stock Exchange reported the third-biggest m-o-m decline during September-2022. The index closed the month at 12,695.3 points registering a decline of 5.4 per cent. Qatar All Share Index also reported a decline of 5.3 per cent, indicating a broad-based weakness in the market. With the decline during September-2022, the YTD-2022 returns for the QE 20 index were slashed to 9.2 per cent, the third highest in the GCC after Abu Dhabi and Oman.
Bahrain Bourse
After witnessing two consecutive months of gains, the Bahrain Bourse recorded a decline in line with the rest of the GCC markets from September-2022. The index closed the month at 1,882.0 points registering a fall of 1.9 per cent, the third smallest in the GCC during September-2022.
