MSX ends 2022 as second-best performing market in GCC

Muscat: The Muscat Securities Exchange (MSX) index recorded gains for the second consecutive year and was the second-best performing market in the GCC during 2022, according to a new report.

“The MSX 30 Index surged 17.6 per cent during the year as compared to a slightly smaller growth of 12.9 per cent during 2021 and closed at 4,857.4 points surpassing its pre-pandemic levels,” the Kuwait-based investment, strategy and research firm Kamco Invest said.

“The index surged to the highest level in almost five years but receded towards the last few trading sessions. Most of the index growth happened during the second half of the year. During the year, the index recovered from its lowest level recorded in February-2022 by 21.4 per cent until its yearly peak closing price of 4,898.86 points on 13-December-2022,” the report added.

Sectoral performance was generally positive for the year as two of the three main sectors witnessed year-on-year (y-o-y) gains. The Financial Sector was the best-performing index on the MSX, gaining 20.1 per cent to close at 7,903.4 points, as a significant number of the sector’s constituents posted yearly double-digit growth. The Industrial index followed with a gain of 5.8 per cent, closing the year at 6,427.4 points, the Kamco Invest report said.

Oman Chlorine Co (+184 per cent) was the top-performing stock on the index followed by Dhofar Poultry Co (+150 per cent) and Galfar Engineering and Contracting (+135.6 per cent 0).

The Services index recorded a marginal dip of 0.3 per cent in 2022 to close the year at 1,616.6 points.The Services index had some of the largest yearly decliners including the top two decliners, ACWA Power Barka (-50 per cent) and Sohar Power (-48.7 per cent), which affected the sector’s overall performance during the year.
Trading activity on the exchange was mixed during the year as compared to 2021.

Total value traded rose by 36.8 per cent to reach OMR 882.7 million in 2022 as compared to OMR645.2 million in 2021. Comparatively, the total yearly volume traded also dropped during 2022 registering a 13.3 per cent decline to reach 4.2 billion shares as compared to 4.9 billion shares in 2021. Bank Muscat topped the yearly value traded chart for the third consecutive year with OMR196 million worth of shares changing hands during the year as compared to OMR103.8 million value of shares traded in 2021.

Oman Telecom and the National Bank of Oman followed as the second and third recording value traded at OMR112.3 million and OMR40.7 million, respectively. Bank Muscat lead the way in terms of volume traded during the year with 736.1 million shares traded during the year against 99.1 million shares in 2021 followed by NBO and Bank of Nizwa with 423.6 million and 246.5 million in traded shares for each of these stocks, respectively.

GCC index
GCC equity market index closed 2022 with a decline of 6.4 per cent after demonstrating one of the biggest gains globally last year. Markets in the region remained volatile during the year and gains made during the first four months of the year were more than offset by declines for most of the months thereafter.

The oil market also influenced markets in the region while additional volatility came from volatile global financial markets. The Russia-Ukraine war and its impact on the global supply chain, especially for commodities, and the strict lockdowns in China affected technology and components supply chains during the year.

The trend in global inflation and the steps taken by global central banks with the unprecedented pace of rate hikes also affected markets. This was worsened by sanctions on Russia that came into effect in December 2022.

Within the GCC, Qatar reported the biggest decline during 2022 with the DSM Index receding by 8.1 per cent followed by Saudi Arabia which dropped by 7.1 per cent. This was the first decline in the Saudi index after six consecutive years of gains. On the other hand, Abu Dhabi was once again the best-performing market in the GCC with a gain of 20.3 per cent followed by Oman and Bahrain with gains of 17.6 per cent and 5.5 per cent, respectively.

Global equity markets also had an uneventful year with almost all prominent markets recording declines during the year. The MSCI World index dropped 19.5 per cent reflecting double-digit declines in most major markets globally. The S&P 500 index dropped almost 20 per cent in 2022 while Emerging Markets showed a bigger decline of 22.4 per cent. Technology stocks in the US were battered with the Nasdaq Composite Index losing a third during the year. The UK was the only major market that showed a marginal gain while India and Brazil were two emerging markets that reported healthy gains.