Sunday 12 / May / 2024
Muscat: The MSX 30 index registered a marginal decline of 0.2 percent during February-2024 to close the month at 4,554.8 points as compared to a gain of 1.1 percent in January-2024, according to a new report.
“The index traded in a tight range during the month mainly led by minimal catalysts in the market, the Kuwait-based Kamco Invest said in its latest GCC Markets Monthly Report for February 2024.
“In terms of sectoral performance, two out of the three sector indices on the exchange recorded gains during February-2024 while one declined,” it further added.
The Financial Index recorded a decline of 3.7 percent during February-2024 to close the month at 7,094.12 points mainly driven by a decline in shares of more than half of the companies in the sector such as Oman Arab Bank (-6.7 percent) and OMINVEST (-11.1 percent).
In comparison, the Services Index registered a 10.4 percent monthly gain during February-2024 to close the month at 1,733.2 points, while the Industrial Index witnessed a gain of 2.2 percent closing the month at 5,535.0 points.
In terms of company performance, Al Batinah Power Company topped the gainers list with a share price gain of 294.7 percent followed by Al Suwadi Power and SMN Power Holding Company with 271.4 percent and 57.1 percent monthly share gains, respectively.
Continuous optimism toward the announcement of a successful refinancing of Al Batinah’s commercial loans and anticipation of future dividend distributions were some of the main key reasons attributed to the power company’s share price jump during the month. On the decliner’s side, OMINVEST led the chart with a 13.3 percent share price fall followed by National Aluminum Products Company and Dhofar International Development and Investment Holding Company which witnessed a share price drop of 11.1 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively.
Trading activity on the exchange witnessed strong gains during February-2024. Total volume of shares traded in the exchange increased by 132.7 percent to 860.3 million during February-2024 shares as compared to 369.6 million in January-2024. Similarly, total value traded in the exchange increased by 51.4 percent to OMR103.8 million against OMR 68.6 million in January-2024.
Sohar International Bank topped the monthly value traded chart with trades at OMR54.7 million followed by OQ Gas Company and Oman Telecommunications Company with total value traded at OMR9.2 million and OMR8.7 million, respectively. In terms of monthly volume traded, Sohar International Bank topped the list with 460.2 million shares followed by Al Suwadi Power and OQ Gas Company with volumes at 79.6 million shares and 59.7 million shares, respectively.
In economic news, the Sultanate of Oman jumped 39 places in the 2024 Economic Freedom Index issued by the Heritage Foundation, ranking 56th in the world compared to its 95th rank in 2023 underlying the effect of modernizing initiatives of the Omani government. The Sultanate’s improvement on the Economic Freedom Index attests to the earlier assessment by Standard Chartered ratings agency which forecasted Oman’s continued improvements in fiscal performance as well as its deleveraging and commitment to reform which could enable it to regain its investment-grade rating as early as this year (2024).
The Sultanate’s continuing pro-growth structural reforms to diversify the economy, attract foreign investors and improve the business environment were some of the key reasons cited by the rating agency which will allow Oman to regain its investment grade in 2024.
GCC index surges
Positive sentiments across financial markets globally pushed GCC market index to the highest level since November-2022 during the third week of February-2024. The MSCI GCC index remained elevated by the end of the month and closed after receding marginally in the last week with a gain of 4.2 percent. The positive performance came despite three out of seven exchanges in the GCC witnessing declines during the month. The monthly gains also fully offset the declines during January-2024 resulting in a year-to-date-2024 gain of 3.3 percent for the MSCI GCC Index.
Saudi Arabia was the best performing market during the month with a gain of 7.1 percent followed by Qatar and Dubai with gains of 3.8 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, the Kamco Invest report said. Kuwait’s All Share Index also showed a gain of 2.4 percent. On the decliner’s side, Bahrain reported the biggest decline during the month (-3.0 percent) followed by Abu Dhabi relatively smaller declines.
In terms of YTD-2024 performance, Kuwait topped the GCC chart with a return of 9.1 percent followed by Dubai and Saudi Arabia with returns of 6.1 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively. On the other hand, the decline in the Abu Dhabi benchmark for the second consecutive month steepened the YTD-2024 fall to 3.4 percent.
The sector performance for the GCC showed a broad-based growth in all sectors with the Insurance index at the top with a gain of 19.5 percent followed by Consumer Durable & Apparel and Healthcare indices with gains of 12.6 percent and 11.4 percent, respectively. Large-cap sectors like Energy and Banks showed low-single digit gains of 3.5 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively. Healthcare and Insurance also featured in the top 5 sectors by YTD-2024 performance with double-digit returns.
In terms of trading activity, value traded during February-2024 declined month-on-month but remained elevated at the second-highest level in 21 months.
