Saturday 25 / July / 2026
Muscat: Local purchases on the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) rose in trading during the week, exceeding OMR154 million, compared to OMR125 million in the week before.
This was on the back of strong demand of Omani individual investors, funds and local investment institutions to buy, taking advantage of the declines recorded by stocks over the past two weeks as well as the positive expectations for the coming period after companies listed on the stock exchange announced an increase in their net profits in the first half of this year.
The week saw the value of trading rise to OMR182.7 million compared to OMR137 million in the week before, registering a growth of 33 percent. Local purchases accounted for 84.7 percent of the total value of trading, compared to sales of 74.7 percent of the trades.
Trading data issued by the Muscat Stock Exchange indicated continued selling pressure on many stocks. The number of securities whose prices declined reached 65 securities, compared to 13 securities whose prices rose and 22 securities that remained unchanged at their previous levels. These declines pushed the stock exchange indices to close lower.
The main index fell by 363 points during the past week, after falling by 163 points in the week before, to close Thursday's trading at 7117 points. The financial sector index recorded the largest losses, declining by 412 points, while the industrial sector index fell by 275 points, the services sector index by 155 points, and the Sharia index by 23 points, closing at 572 points.
The market capitalisation was affected by the selling waves at the end of the week’s trading to fall at OMR37.17 billion, recording weekly losses of OMR877.9 million.
The week also saw a surge in demand for Bank Muscat shares, with trading value reaching OMR40.2 million, representing 22 percent of the total trading value. The share price fell to 369 baisa during trading before recovering some of its losses and closing at 383 baisa, registering a weekly decline of 9 baisa. The share had surpassed the 500 baisa level at its peak this year, but the pressures that the shares have been under for several months have reduced these gains.
Bank Sohar International's stock attracted investor interest as the bank began offering 1.0587 billion shares for preemptive rights from July 21 to 26 at a price of 141 baisa per share. Trading volume reached OMR27.9 million, representing 15.2 percent of total trading.
The preemptive rights, upon their listing on the stock exchange, saw strong investor demand, with 456 transactions involving the trading of over 20 million rights at prices ranging from 6 to 20 baisa. The rights closed at 14 baisa. Bank Sohar aims to increase its capital from OMR702.5 million to OMR849.6 million through this offering. The share price closed at 172 baisa at the end of the week's trading, down 10 baisa during the week.
OQ Basic Industries ranked third among the most traded companies in terms of trading value with OMR25.5 million, representing about 14 percent of the total trading value. Omantel came in fourth with trading value of OMR17 million and OQ Gas Networks ranked fifth with trades valued at OMR16.2 million, representing 8.8 percent of the total trading value.
SMN Power Holdings shares led the gainers, rising 6.3 percent to close at 202 baisa. Shell Oman Marketing shares climbed to 800 baisa, up 2.5 percent. Ahli Bank shares rose 1.9 percent to close at 214 baisa. Oman Chlorine shares increased 1.8 percent to close at 163 baisa, and Oman Arab Bank shares climbed 1.6 percent to 242 baisa.
In contrast, Oman and Emirates Investment Holding Company's stock led the losing stocks, declining by 21.6 percent and closing at 112 baisa. Al Batinah Power Company's stock fell by 11.1 percent and closed at 160 baisa, and Asyad Shipping Company's stock recorded a decline of about 11 percent and closed at 243 baisa.
