Wednesday 15 / January / 2025
Muscat: The benchmark main Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) index rose last week by 10 points, beginning the trading year 2023, with a limited rise, amid pressure from the leading stocks that were unable to support the index, except for the varying rises recorded by the shares of Al Jazeera Services, Omantel, Ooredoo, Bank Muscat, Sohar International Bank and Muscat Finance included in the indicator sample.
The index ended the trading of the first week of 2023 at 4,868 points, although it rose last Sunday above the level of 4,870 points, it quickly abandoned this level the next day and returned to rise again on Tuesday, but it quickly declined on Wednesday to fall below the level of 4,850 points, then it rose again on Thursday, taking advantage of the rises recorded by the shares of banks and a number of other companies.
Last week’s trading was characterised by extreme caution by investors after the decline in oil prices at the beginning of the week below the level of $80 per barrel, amid fears of a decline in global demand and the return of the spread of COVID-19 in China and its transmission to other countries of the world, and the price of Oman oil fell on Wednesday by $5 to $77.18 compared to $82.26 on Tuesday.
The industrial sector index recorded the highest decline after losing about 50 points and closed at 6,377 points. The financial sector index declined by about 11 points, while the service sector index benefited from the gains recorded by the shares of Omantel, Ooredoo, Al Jazeera Services, Al Suwadi Energy and Phoenix Energy to close at 1631 points, recording a weekly increase by 14 points, the Sharia index recorded a slight increase, less than one point.
The value of trading, which declined by 51 per cent, reflected the state of caution that characterised last week's trading, dropping to OMR14 million, compared to OMR28.9 million in the previous week, and the number of executed transactions decreased from 3,319 to 2,587.
Last week, investors focused on bank stocks, and the National Bank of Oman (NBO) came at the forefront of the most heavily traded companies in terms of turnover, with the value of its traded shares amounting to OMR2.96 million, representing 21.1 per cent of the total trading value. Bank Muscat ranked second with a turnover of OMR1 million followed by Barwani Sukuk's issue of OMR1.8 million, Bank Nizwa at OMR1.3 million and United Finance witnessed transactions worth OMR1.86 million.
Last week witnessed an increase in the prices of 28 securities, a decline in 23 securities, and prices of 23 securities remained unchanged. The share of the Eastern Water Desalination Company recorded the highest gains, after it closed at 127 baisas, up by 8.5 per cent. The share of Voltamp Energy rose by 7.7 per cent, closing at 97 baisas. Muscat Finance increased by 4.6 per cent and closed at 68 baisas, Raysut Cement rose to 164 baisas, up by 4.4 per cent, and Muscat Gases and (SMN Power Holding) rose by 4.3 per cent, so the first closed at 120 baisas and the second closed at 48 baisas.
The share of Oman Refreshments led the losing shares, down by 9.9 per cent and closed at 490 baisas and riyals. The share of Oman Oil Marketing Company fell to 900 baisas, down by 8.9 per cent. The share of Salalah Port Services declined by 8.1 per cent and closed at 450 baisas. The share of Omani Qatar Insurance fell by 5.5 per cent and the share of Al-Ahli Bank declined by 5.2 per cent and closed at 162 baisas. -
