Muscat – The benchmark index of the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) recorded its third consecutive monthly decline, falling by 1.6% in March following a 2.4% drop in February.

In terms of sectoral performance, all three main sectors on the Muscat Stock Exchange posted declines last month. The Industrial Index led the losses with a 4.9% fall, followed by the Services Index, which dropped by 2.0%. The Financial Index saw a marginal dip of 0.6%, according to an analysis by Kamco Investment.

Double-digit share price drops in constituent companies such as Oman Cement (-18.9%) and SMN Power Holding (-17.7%) contributed significantly to the Industrial Index’s overall decline during the month.

On the positive side, Muscat Insurance Company topped the monthly performance chart with an impressive gain of 60.3%, followed by Voltamp Energy and Al Anwar Investment, which gained 13.5% and 10.3%, respectively.

Muscat Insurance returned to profitability in the 2024 financial year, reporting net profits of RO0.4mn, compared to a net loss of RO0.5mn in 2023. On the decliners’ side, Financial Corporation recorded the largest fall, dropping by 31.9%, followed by Oman Cement and SMN Power Holding, which declined by 18.9% and 17.7%, respectively. Financial Corporation posted a net loss of RO0.4mn in 2024, compared to a net profit of RO0.7mn in 2023.

Trading activity remains weak

Trading activity on the Muscat bourse saw a sharp decline in March. The total volume of shares traded dropped by 42.3% to 652.8mn shares, down from 1.1bn in February.

Similarly, the total value of shares traded fell by 45.2% to RO119mn, compared to RO217mn in the previous month. OQ Exploration & Production topped the monthly value traded chart at RO18.7mn, followed by Bank Muscat and Sohar International Bank, with trades worth RO11.1mn and RO10.5mn, respectively.

In terms of trading volume, Sohar International Bank led with 114.3mn shares traded, followed by OQ Base Industries and OQ Gas Networks, with volumes of 73.1mn and 69.3mn shares, respectively.

Stock markets around the world came under pressure for a second straight month in March, as investor sentiment was dampened by uncertainty surrounding US trade policies and forecasts of a slowdown in the US economy.

A series of announcements by the US government regarding the imposition of tariffs on imports, along with retaliatory measures from its trading partners, shook investor confidence in near-term global economic growth. As a result, investors turned to safer asset classes such as gold – which reached a record high during the month – and government bonds.

The MSCI GCC Index posted a marginal decline of 0.4% during March, despite broad-based losses across all seven regional exchanges. Within the GCC, Dubai registered the steepest fall of 4.2%, marking the exchange’s first monthly decline in ten months. Abu Dhabi and Qatar both declined by 2.0%, while the other GCC markets saw smaller drops.

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