Saturday 04 / July / 2026
Muscat: The main index of the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) resumed its rise during the week, gaining 258 points after a series of declines that lasted for four weeks, during which the index lost 458 points.
The main index ended the week's trading at 7,575 points, benefiting from the return of stocks to the upside after the closure of the subscription to the shares offered by the Oman India Fertiliser Company (Omifco) for public subscription, the return of liquidity to the stock exchange, and the easing of selling pressures that lasted for several weeks. The Muscat Stock Exchange also benefited from positive expectations for the financial results for the first half of this year, which are expected to be announced in the next few days.
Sectoral indices recorded a positive performance with the rise in prices of 50 securities, including banks, investment companies, many industrial companies, energy, telecommunications and insurance companies. The financial sector index closed the week's trading at 13,207 points, up 441 points. The industrial sector index rose 177 points and closed at 9,712 points. The services sector index climbed to 3,054 points, up 75 points. The Sharia index recorded an increase of 17 points and closed at 601 points.
Trading data issued by the Muscat Stock Exchange showed a return of liquidity to trading, with the value of trading rising by 52 percent to OMR247.8 million, compared to OMR162.6 million in the previous week. The number of executed transactions also rose by 25.2 percent to 48,000 transactions, compared to 38,000 transactions executed in the previous week.
Trading was concentrated on shares of banks and companies in the OQ Group and telecommunications. Bank Muscat topped the list of most traded companies in terms of trading value with OMR54.2 million, representing 21.8 percent of the total trading value. OQ Basic Industries came in second trading value of OMR37.7 million Omani riyals, Bank Sohar International came in third with trading value of OMR35.6 million, OQ Gas Networks came in fourth with trading value of OMR29.7 million, while Omantel came in fifth with trades amounting to OMR26.2 million, representing 10.6 percent of the total trading value.
The Muscat Stock Exchange also recorded gains in its market capitalisation during the week, estimated at OMR667.4 million, ending its trading at OMR36.83 billion, benefiting from the return of leading stocks to an upward trend. OQ Exploration and Production tops the list of the highest public shareholding companies in terms of market capitalisation at OMR3.60 billion, and its share price recorded an increase of 24 baisa closing at 451 baisa. Bank Muscat comes in second with a market capitalisation of OMR3.47 billion and the bank's share price rose by 9 baisa, closing at 406 baisa. Asyad Shipping came at the third position with a market capitalisation of OMR1.44 billion and its share price closed at the end of trading at 278 baisa.
The Muscat Stock Exchange saw the prices of 50 securities rise, compared to 21 securities whose prices declined and 28 securities that remained unchanged at their previous levels. Al Maha Ceramics shares topped the list of gainers, rising by 15.6 percent and closing at 289 baisa. Salalah Mills shares rose by 14.1 percent and closed at 685 baisa. Galfar Engineering and Contracting shares climbed to 170 baisa, recording an increase of 14 percent. Aman Real Estate Investment Fund units rose by 13.2 percent and closed at 77 baisa. Bank Dhofar shares climbed to 220 baisa, rising by 12.8 percent.
The share of Al Hassan Engineering (under liquidation) led the list of losing shares, declining by 42.8 percent and closing at 4 baisa. The share of Muscat Insurance declined by 5 percent and closed at 570 baisa. The share of Al Madina Investment fell by 3 percent and closed at 32 baisa. The second issue of Bank Nizwa sukuk declined to 102 baisa, recording a decline of 2.8 percent. The share of Oman Arab Bank fell to 232 baisa, recording a decline of 2.5 percent.
