Industrial shares lead MSX rally

MUSCAT: Industrial stocks on the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) extended their rally last week, lifting the sector index for a sixth consecutive week as investors positioned themselves ahead of the announcement of preliminary 2025 financial results.
Strong buying interest pushed the industrial sector index up by 132 points to close above 7,900 points, bringing its total gain over the past six weeks to more than 680 points. This made it the strongest-performing sector on the exchange. Shares of Al Jazeera Steel Products, Al Anwar Ceramic Tiles, Oman Cables Industry, Al Safa Foods, Voltamp Energy and Gulf International Chemicals led the advance.
Listed companies are expected to begin releasing their 2025 preliminary financial results this week, with disclosures due to be completed by mid-January. These announcements are expected to set the direction of the MSX in the weeks ahead.
Elsewhere, market performance was mixed. The main MSX index slipped below the 5,900-point level after nearly three weeks of gains, closing the week at 5,895 points, down 60 points. The services sector index edged down by nine points, weighed by declines in OQ Gas Networks, Ooredoo and Al Suwadi Power. In contrast, the financial sector index rose by around 21 points, while the Sharia-compliant index gained three points.
Market capitalisation declined by RO 99.2 million over the week to RO 32.12 billion. Trading activity picked up in volume, with executed transactions rising to 21,834 from about 17,000 the previous week. However, total trading value fell to RO 160.5 million, compared with RO 175.9 million a week earlier.
Bank Muscat dominated trading, accounting for 26.5 per cent of total turnover, with transactions worth RO 42.6 million. Sohar International ranked second with RO 29.1 million, followed by OQ Exploration and Production at RO 27.2 million. Omantel and OQ Base Industries completed the top five, recording trades of RO 15.9 million and RO 10.6 million, respectively.
Share prices rose for 40 securities, while 30 declined and 25 remained unchanged. Lifa Group led the gainers, rising 13.7 per cent to 330 baisa. Oman United Insurance advanced 9.3 per cent to 339 baisa, while Gulf Hotels Oman and Musandam Power both gained 8.2 per cent. Al Jazeera Steel Products added 7.7 per cent to close at 680 baisa.
On the downside, Port of Salalah Services fell 8.3 per cent to 330 baisa. Oman Refreshments declined 8 per cent to RO 1.370, Oman Chromite dropped 7.3 per cent to RO 3.800, Oman Fisheries slipped 6.6 per cent to 28 baisa and Oman Investment & Training eased 5.7 per cent to RO 1.550.
In separate disclosures, Oman Flour Mills said its Extraordinary General Meeting held on December 31 approved changing the company’s trade name to Atayeb Group. — ONA