Oman's stock market falls in September

Muscat: The Omani stock market declined for the third consecutive month during September-2021 and was one of two markets along with Dubai that witnessed declines in the GCC during the month, a new report said.

“The MSX index dropped by 0.6 per cent in September-2021 to close at 3,942.5 points after declines during the first half of the month were only partially offset by marginal gains recorded towards the end of the month,” the Kuwait-based investment strategy and research firm Kamco Invest said.

In terms of year-to-date 2021 performance, the index showed returns of 7.8 per cent at the end of September-2021, the lowest in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

The sector performance showed declines for the Financial and Services indices whereas the Industrial index reported healthy gains. The Financial index declined by 1.4 per cent while the Services sector dipped 0.4 per cent. On the other hand, the Industrial index registered a gain of 4.8 per cent.

Trading activity on the exchange saw gains for the second consecutive month during September-2021. The total volume of shares traded during the month was up 7.8 per cent to reach 303.70 million shares as compared to 281.6 million shares during August-2021.

On the other hand, monthly value traded witnessed a slightly higher gain of 10.2 per cent to reach OMR61.9 million as compared to OMR56.2 million during August-2021.
GCC index up marginally

The GCC equity markets maintained the upward trend during September-2021 witnessing gains, albeit marginal, for the eleventh consecutive month.

The majority of the exchanges in the region closed the month with a gain, but the overall performance was affected by a 2.0 per cent decline in the DFM General Index. Qatar and Bahrain, on the other hand, were the best-performing markets during the month with gains of more than 3 per cent during the month. In terms of year-to-date 2021 performance, ADX continues to lead with a return of 52.6 per cent, one of the highest globally, followed by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait with gains of 32.3 per cent and 23.8 per cent, respectively.