Saturday 16 / May / 2026
Muscat: The main index of the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) fell below the 8,000 point level at the end of trading during the week and closed at 7,959 points at the end of trading on Thursday, recording its lowest level in two months, thus giving up the gains it had begun to record since March 25, when it rose for the first time in 18 years to the 8,000 point level.
The main index of the Muscat Stock Exchange fell 390 points during the week, pressured by a number of local and external factors, amid geopolitical tensions in the region and fluctuating oil prices that affected investor sentiment and led to a decline in most Gulf stock exchanges.
The Muscat Stock Exchange witnessed a wave of declines that included most leading stocks, as investors awaited the public offering of 25 percent of the shares of the Oman India Fertilizer Company.
During the week, 65 securities recorded a decline, compared to 13 securities whose prices rose and 15 securities that remained unchanged at their previous levels.
The declines included many leading stocks. In the banking sector, shares of Bank Muscat, Bank Sohar International, Bank Nizwa and Ahli Bank declined. In the services sector, shares of OQ Gas Networks, OQ Exploration and Production, Omantel, Ooredoo, Renaissance Services and many energy companies declined. In the industrial sector, shares of Al Jazeera Steel Products, Al Safa Foods, Oman Flour Mills, Oman Chrome, Al Anwar Ceramic Tiles and many other stocks declined.
These declines prompted the sectoral indices of the Muscat Stock Exchange to record collective declines, led by the financial sector index, which fell by more than 500 points and closed at 12,764 points. The industrial sector index fell by 278 points, the services sector index recorded a decline of 91 points, and the Sharia index closed at 639 points, recording a weekly decline of about 23 points.
These declines put pressure on the market capitalisation of the Muscat Stock Exchange, which recorded losses of OMR961.5 million, ending Thursday's trading at OMR37.37 billion.
Trading data released by the Muscat Stock Exchange showed a decline in liquidity during the past week, with the number of securities traded falling from 971.9 million to 738.1 million securities.
Trading value during the week recorded a decline of 31.3 percent to OMR249.4 million compared to OMR363.6 million in the week before, and the number of transactions executed decreased by 12.8 percent from more than 30,000 to 26,432 transactions.
Bank Muscat topped the list of most traded companies in terms of trading value of OMR50.8 million, representing 20.3 percent of the total trading value. Bank Sohar International came in second place with trading value of OMR47.5 million, OQ Basic Industries came in third place with trading value of OMR41.7 million, while Omantel came in fourth place with trading value of OMR34.1 million, and OQ Gas Networks came in fifth place with trades of OMR25.8 million, representing 10.3 percent of the total trading value.
Bank Muscat's stock recorded the highest losses, declining by 9.6 percent and closing at 414 baisa. Bank Sohar International's stock declined by 9.4 percent and closed at 210 baisa. Dhofar Insurance's stock fell to 338 baisa, recording a decline of 8.8 percent. Bank Nizwa's stock declined by 8.6 percent and closed at 137 baisa. Oman Chromite's stock fell by 8.5 percent and closed at 3 riyals and 111 baisa.
In contrast, Sohar Power shares recorded the highest gains, rising by 20.2 percent and closing at 226 baisa. Fincorps Financial Center shares rose by 10.4 percent and closed at 116 baisa. Raysut Cement shares climbed to 207 baisa, recording an increase of 8.9 percent. Oman Refreshments shares rose to 1.400 rials, recording an increase of 6.8 percent. National Bank of Oman shares climbed to 437 baisa, rising by 4.5 percent.
