Muscat: Oman’s stock exchange continued its gaining streak for the third consecutive month in August-2022, according to a new report.
“The MSX30 index gained 1.2 per cent during the month to close at 4,585.3 points,” the Kuwait-based Kamco Invest, an investment strategy & research firm said in its latest report.
The MSX Sharia index, on the other hand, showed a relatively stronger monthly gain of 5.03 per cent during August-2022. Consistent gains over the last three months pushed the MSX 30 Index to the number three position in the GCC in terms of year-to-date 2022 returns that reached double digits at 11.0 per cent at the end of August-2022.
In terms of sectoral performance, all three reported segments closed in the green during August-2022. The Industrial index topped the month’s performance with a gain of 14.2 per cent followed by financial and services indices with gains of 1.05 per cent and 1.03 per cent, respectively, the Kamco Invest report said.
In terms of year-to-date (YTD) 2022 performance, the financial index topped with a gain of 11.8 per cent followed by industrial and service indices with gains of 7.3 per cent and 3.3 per cent, respectively.
The trading activity showed a strong recovery during August-2022 with gains for the second consecutive month. The monthly value of shares traded reached a four-month high level of OMR77.7 million during August-2022 as compared to OMR53.0 million during July- 2022, a gain of 46.6 per cent.
The monthly volume of shares traded also reached a 4-month high at 314.3 million shares during August-2022 as compared to 219.9 million shares during July-2022.
In terms of investor participation, the share of Omanis in the total value of buy trades dropped slightly from 87.2 per cent in July 2022 to 85.3 per cent in August 2022. The share of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) investors doubled from 4.8 per cent of the total value of buy trades in July-2022 to 9.65 per cent in August-2022.
In economic news, the Omani government announced a budget surplus of $2 billion at the end of the first half of 2022. Omanis’ government recorded an increase of $8.3 billion in oil revenues during the first half of 2022 buoyed by rising global oil prices.
GCC markets remain flat
GCC aggregate index showed flattish performance with a marginal gain of 0.3 per cent during August-2022 after initial gains during the first half of the month were almost fully offset by consecutive declines during the second half.
Most markets in the region remained range-bound during the month and ended with mostly positive performance. In terms of YTD-2022 performance, the MSCI GCC index showed one of the best returns when compared to other global markets with a return of 7.7 per cent.
Dubai was the best performing market in the GCC with a return of 3.2 per cent followed by Abu Dhabi at 2.2 per cent. In terms of YTD-2022 performance, Abu Dhabi continued to lead with a world-leading performance of 16.3 per cent closely followed by Qatar’s 15.5 per cent. Trading activity in the region also showed significant improvement compared to last month with aggregate value traded reaching $60.4 billion as compared to $38.4 billion during July-2022. Volume traded was also at a four-month high during August-2022 at 23.8 billion traded shares as compared to 13.2 billion traded shares during July-2022.
The sector performance chart for the month was slightly skewed towards gainers compared to losers. However, large-cap sectors like energy and banks declined during the month by 3.5 per cent (the biggest monthly decline) and 0.3 per cent, respectively, which was offset by a healthy gain of 9.7 per cent for the consumer durable and apparel index followed by 6.3 per cent and 5.5 per cent gains in the food and drug retailing and materials sectors, respectively. In terms of YTD-2022 performance, the healthcare index topped with a gain of 21.8 per cent followed by utilities and capital goods indices while pharma and consumer durables were top decliners, the Kamco Invest report said
