Muscat Stock Exchange emerges as second best performing market in GCC

All three sector indices on MSX recorded gains during March. Services Index recorded a 6.6% increase, Financial Index gained 3.7% and Industrial Index rose 2.2%

The Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) emerged as the secondbest performing market in the GCC region during March 2024, recording a monthly gain of 1.8% to close the month at 4,635.71 points, according to a new report.

However, GCC equity markets underperformed amidst a sustained rally in global markets during March, with most markets in the region experiencing low single-digit declines. As a result, the MSCI GCC Index dropped by 3.0% during the month, according to a report released by Kuwait-based Kamco Investment.

Bahrain was the best-performing market during March with a gain of 1.9%, closely followed by Oman. On the decliners' side, Qatar experienced the biggest decline with a fall of 6.0%. Saudi Arabia followed with a decline of 1.8%, while Kuwait and Dubai indices declined by 1.5% each. Interestingly, all these top decliners were the best performing markets in February.

In terms of sectoral performance at the Muscat Stock Exchange, all three sector indices on the exchange recorded gains during March. The Services Index recorded a 6.6% increase during March, mainly driven by gains in shares of several companies in the sector such as Semcorb Salalah (+11.3%) and Phoenix Power Company (+15.1%).

The Financial Index registered a 3.7% monthly gain during March, while the Industrial Index witnessed a gain of 2.2% for the second consecutive month.

In terms of company performance, Barka Water and Power Company topped the gainers list with a monthly share price gain of 365.4%, followed by SMN Power Holding Company and Dhofar Generating Company with 152.9% and 130.4% monthly share gains, respectively.

On the decliners' side, National Mineral Water Company led the chart with an 18.2% share price fall, followed by Sharqiyah Desalination Company and Musandam Power Company, which witnessed a share price drop of 15.4% and 10.3%, respectively.

Trading activity on the Muscat bourse witnessed a moderate decline during March. The total volume of shares traded on the exchange decreased by 24.0% to 653.4mn shares compared to 860.3mn in February. Similarly, the total value traded on the exchange declined by 22.2% to Ro80.7mn against Ro103.8mn in February.

Bank Muscat topped the monthly value traded chart with trades at Ro9.2mn, followed by SMN Power Holding Company and Al Suwadi Power Company with a total value traded at Ro8.9mn and Ro7.0mn, respectively.