Saturday 19 / April / 2025
Muscat: The trading value on the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) rose to about OMR434.1 million in the first quarter of this year, registering a growth of 42.6 percent compared to OMR304.3 million in the first quarter of last year.
This rise was supported by increased trading in Ahli Bank shares, which witnessed private transactions worth more than OMR161 million in February, as a result of the sale of a 35 percent stake by the Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank. The total trading value of Ahli Bank shares in the first quarter of this year reached OMR162.8 million, representing 37.5 percent of the total trading value.
OQ Exploration and Production (OQEP) came in second place with trading valued at OMR49.9 million, representing 11.5 percent of the total trading value. Bank Muscat came in third with OMR26.6 million, followed by OQ Basic Industries with OMR26.2 million, and Sohar International Bank came in fifth with trading valued at OMR22.5 million, representing 5.2 percent of the total trading value.
The total number of transactions executed in the first quarter of this year reached 57,000, a 14.5 percent decline from the approximately 67,000 transactions executed in the first quarter of last year.
The Muscat Stock Exchange’s main index was affected in the first quarter of this year by the declines witnessed in stocks since the beginning of the year. It did not record any gains in the past three months after losing support from leading companies, which recorded a number of declines amid selling pressure on many stocks. The main index closed at the end of March at 4,367 points, down 209 points from its level in December 2024.
The Muscat Stock Exchange’s market capitalisation recorded limited gains in the first quarter of this year, reaching OMR43.8 million, rising to OMR27.63 billion by the end of March. Market capitalisation was affected by the decline in the prices of several leading stocks with high market capitalization, such as OQ Exploration and Production, Omantel, Bank Sohar International, and OQ Gas Networks.
OQ Exploration and Production topped the list of public joint stock companies in terms of market capitalisation, at OMR2.56 billion. Bank Muscat came in second with a market capitalisation of OMR1.89 billion, followed by Bank Sohar International in third place with a market capitalisation of OMR860.2 million.
During the first quarter of this year, the Muscat Stock Exchange witnessed the subscription of 1.41 billion shares offered by Asyad Shipping Company for public subscription, representing 20 percent of the company’s capital, at a price of 123 baisas per share. The company was listed on the Muscat Stock Exchange on March 12, and the share price closed at the end of trading during the first quarter of this year at 124 baisas, up one baisa from the closing price. As many as 892 transactions were executed, worth OMR10.73 million.
In the first quarter of this year, the Muscat Stock Exchange also witnessed the transformation of Computer Stationery Manufacturing Company from a public joint-stock company to a closed joint-stock company with a capital of one million Omani riyals divided into 10 million shares.
