MSX emerges as second best performing market in GCC

Muscat: The MSX 30 index was the second best performing market in the GCC during March-2023 witnessing a monthly growth of 2.3 per cent to close the month at 4,863.09 points, according to a new report.

“In terms of sector performance, two out of the three sector indices recorded monthly gains during March-2023,” the Kuwait-based Kamco Invest said in its latest Monthly GCC stock Markets update.
“The Industrial Sector Index recorded the biggest monthly growth of 2.2 per cent during March-2023, closing the month at 6,070.8 points,” it added.

The growth was primarily driven by a small number of top-performing companies including SMN Power Holding which witnessed share price growth of 31.9 per cent during March-2023 and Anwar Ceramic Tiles which witnessed 13.3 per cent gains. The Financial Sector index followed witnessing a monthly rise of 1.8 per cent to close the month at 7,778.2 points while the Services Sector Index registered a marginal monthly drop of 0.4 per cent during March-2023.

Stand out share price performance of companies like Al Batinah Development & Investment Holding Co in the Financial Sector Index, which recorded a share price growth of 76.2 per cent during the month has been the primary driver of the sector indices' monthly gain.

Trading activity increased during March-2023 with monthly value traded recording a gain of 116.0 per cent to reach OMR91.9 million during March-2023 as compared to OMR42.5 million during February-2023. Similarly, the total volume of shares traded in the exchange witnessed an increase of 95.7 per cent to 317.8 million during March-2023 as compared to 162.4 million in February-2023.

Bank Muscat topped the monthly value traded chart for the month with trades at OMR38.7 million followed by Ominvest and Sohar Bank with total value traded at OMR15.9 million and OMR15.8 million, respectively. In terms of monthly volume traded, Bank Muscat topped the table for the second consecutive month with 11.1 million shares followed by Oman Telecommunication Company and Ominvest with volume at 10.7 million shares and 7.9 million shares, respectively.

In terms of company performance, shares of Al Batinah Development & Investment Holding topped the gainers list with a share price gain of 76.2 per cent followed by SMN Power Holding and Oman Qatar insurance with 31.9 per cent and 25.7 per cent monthly share gains, respectively. Al Batinah Development & Investment Holdings' share price jump came on the back of its recent disclosure on behalf of its partners and subsidiary AlPharabi for Veterinary Medicines Agricultural Company.

The company disclosed its cancellation of a previously leased plot to build a new factory and a new project to rent a newly ready-made factory building for the same project in the same location in Al-Buraimi Industrial City. On the decliner’s side, Dhofar Cattle Feed Co topped the monthly losers list with a share price drop of 14.3 per cent followed by Sharqiyah Desalination Company and Oman Chromite Co which recorded 11.1 per cent and 10 per cent share price declines during the month, respectively.

In economic news, ratings agency S&P revised its outlook on Oman’s sovereign rating to Positive from Stable citing the Sultanate’s fiscal and economic reform program that could strengthen Oman’s fiscal position beyond S&P’s current assumptions. The agency also highlighted a greater degree of resilience against the economy’s structural susceptibility to adverse oil price shocks. The agency affirmed the Sultanate’s long-term and short-term sovereign credit ratings at “BB/B”.

Furthermore, the ratings agency indicated that it might raise its ratings on Oman’s economy over the next year if the ongoing government reforms continue to bear fruit and strengthen the Sultanate’s fiscal covers.

GCC markets
After reaching multi-month lows during February-2023, most GCC equity markets continued to report declines during March-2023, according to the Kamco Invest report.

“However, a steep recovery in Saudi Arabia and an elevated Oman market helped the aggregate MSCI GCC index to report a gain of 0.9 per cent in the month of March,” the report said.

“While Saudi Arabia was the best performing GCC market during the month with a gain of 4.8 per cent following a steep recovery during the second half of the month, Oman’s MSX index also witnessed gains of 2.3 per cent,” the report further said.

On the other hand, ADX reported the biggest decline in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with the benchmark down by 4.2 per cent in Mar-2023 followed by Qatar and Kuwait with declines of 3.4 per cent and 2.7 per cent, respectively.

Gains in Saudi’s TASI also helped the index turn positive during Q1-2023 with a gain of 1.1 per cent, while DFM led with gains of 2.1 per cent. The rest of the GCC markets were in the red with Abu Dhabi reporting the biggest decline of 7.6 per cent, the report said.