Muscat – The MSX30 Index, the benchmark index of the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX), recorded a 0.8% decline in September, closing the month at 4,710.3 points after gaining 1.8% in the previous month, primarily due to a drop in industrial sector stocks.

In terms of sector performance, two out of the three sectors on the Muscat Stock Exchange recorded gains in September, led by the Services Index with a 0.42% uptick, closely followed by the Financial Index with a similar monthly gain. In contrast, the Industrial Index experienced a 3.1% decline during the month.

National Bank of Oman led the Financial Index’s monthly gain, recording a 7.4% increase in share price. Conversely, the decline in share prices of companies such as Oman Fisheries (-16.2%) and Shell Oman Marketing (-10.0%) contributed to the fall in the Industrial Index, according to a research report published by Kamco Investment Company.

Despite the decline in September, the MSX remained the third-best-performing market in the GCC in terms of year-to-date returns, which stood at 4.3% at the end of September 2024.

The monthly stock performance chart was topped by Al Batinah Development & Investment Holding with a gain of 28.6%, followed by Muscat Thread Mills and Oman Qatar Insurance with gains of 22.8% and 20.5%, respectively. On the decline side, Dhofar Cattle Feed saw the largest drop at 20.0%, followed by Oman Fisheries and Musandam Power with declines of 16.2% and 14.7%, respectively.

Market turnover jumps 57%

Meanwhile, trading activity showed a significant uptick in September. The total volume of shares traded on the MSX reached 373.2mn shares during the month, compared to 260mn shares traded in August.

Sohar International Bank topped the volume traded chart for the month with 74.6mn shares, followed by Bank Nizwa and Bank Muscat with 28.3mn and 27.3mn shares, respectively.

Total value of shares traded jumped 57.1% in September to reach RO66.5mn, compared to RO42.3mn in August. Sohar International Bank also led in terms of most traded stocks by value during the month, with RO10.4mn, followed by National Bank of Oman and Bank Muscat at RO7.2mn and RO7.1mn, respectively.

GCC markets see gains

GCC equity markets mostly closed with monthly gains in September, taking cues from a rally in global financial markets observed in the latter half of the month. The surge across most asset classes globally followed a larger-than-expected 50 basis point rate cut by the US Fed to provide a necessary boost to the economy.

The MSCI GCC index saw a gain of 0.9% in September, reflecting positive performance in five out of seven exchanges in the region. Dubai was the best-performing market during the month with a gain of 4.1%, closely followed by Qatar and Bahrain with gains of 4.0% and 2.8%, respectively. Saudi Arabia’s main index experienced a marginal gain of 0.7%, while Oman and Kuwait saw slight declines.

The gains in September helped to partially offset the year-to-date decline in the MSCI GCC index, which closed with a marginal drop of 0.2%. Within the GCC, Dubai’s General Index now shows double-digit year-to-date gains of 10.9%, the highest in the region, followed by Kuwait and Oman with smaller gains of 4.7% and 4.3%, respectively.

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