MSX in August records its best closing level since last March

Muscat: The Muscat Stock Exchange in August recorded the best closing level since last March, after the main index of the stock exchange rose close to the level of 4,800 points, recording a monthly rise of 22 points, rising for the third month in a row.

The index closed in March at 4,863 points, but it declined in April to 4,718 points and continued its losses in May, falling to 4,626 points. However, it was able to rise by more than 141 points in June and continued its rise in July, rising by about 8 points to 4,776 points, and doubling its gains. Last month, August trading ended at about 4,799 points.

These gains came in conjunction with the improvement witnessed by the national economy, the rise in the Sultanate of Oman’s ranking in international indicators, the decline in public debt, the rise in gross domestic product (GDP), and the state’s general budget achieving a surplus of OMR656 million in the first half of the current year. These indicators are expected to be reflected in the performance of companies. Public shareholding listed on the stock exchange.

The sectoral indicators witnessed a variation in their performance, while the Sharia index recorded an increase of 11 points, the financial sector index witnessed an increase of 4 points, and the performance of the industrial and services indexes was negative, as the industry sector index declined by 107 points, and the services sector index recorded a decline of 9 points.

Trading data for August issued by the MSX showed a 3.9 percent increase in the number of deals executed, which rose to 11,347 compared to 10,914 in July, benefiting from investors’ interest in buying shares of Bank Muscat, Abraaj Energy Services, Ooredoo, Bank Nizwa, and Omantel, which came at the top of the companies in the number of transactions.

The value of shares traded in August recorded an increase of 15.6 percent to reach OMR55.5 million, compared to OMR48 million in July, while trading in the bond and sukuk market witnessed a decline from OMR18.9 million to OMR8 million, and the total value of trading last month reached OMR63.6 million compared to OMR66.9 million Omani riyals in July and OMR52.8 million in June.

Omantel topped the most traded companies in terms of trading value with OMR14.8 million, representing 23.3 percent of the total trading value. Last August, the company distributed interim cash dividends amounting to 5 baisas per share to shareholders registered in the records of the Muscat Clearing and Depository Company (MCDC) on August 31.

Bank Muscat's share attracted investors to witness the execution of 1,919 transactions worth OMR12.88 million, representing 20.2 percent of the total trading value. The share price closed at 285 baisas, up 5 baisas. Ooredoo's share witnessed the execution of 962 deals worth OMR7.78 million, representing 12.2 percent of the share. The total trading value, and the share price closed at 386 baisas, up 19 baisas.
The shares of Bank Sohar International witnessed good demand from investors, witnessing 619 transactions worth OMR3.23 million, representing 8 percent of the total trading value. The share price rose by one baisa and closed at 107 baisas.

The month of August witnessed the completion of the merger between Bank Sohar International and HS Bank. BC Oman, which merged through annexation with Bank Sohar, causing HSBC Bank Oman to leave the trading screens. After the merger, Bank Sohar, with a capital of OMR561.5 million became the third largest company listed on the MSX in terms of market value of OMR585 million after Bank Muscat, which came in the lead with more than OMR1.13 billion, and Omantel, which ranked second with a market value of OMR772 million. Bank Dhofar ranked fourth with OMR524.3 million and the National Bank of Oman (NBO) ranked fifth with OMR481.2 million.

During last August, the National Bank announced that Ominvest and Bank Dhofar had separately withdrawn the offer to acquire the shares of the National Bank after neither of them had obtained the approval of the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) to do so. Also during the month of August, the National Bank of Oman offered 400 million shares to exercise the preferential right at a price of OMR126 million. One baisa per share, including one baisa for issuance expenses, in a step by which the bank aims to raise its capital by OMR50 million from OMR194.9 million to OMR244.9 million. The share price closed at the end of last month at 175 baisas, down 25 baisas from its closing price in July 2023.