Thursday 04 / July / 2024
Muscat: The MSX 30 index registered a decline during June-2024 at 3.3 percent to close the month at 4,687.23 points, according to a new report.
“In terms of sectoral performance, two out of the three sector indices on the exchange recorded gains during the month,” Kamco Invest said in its GCC Markets Monthly Report June 2024.
However, the Financial Index recorded a decline of 4.1 percent during June-2024 to close the month at 7,684.9 points mainly driven by broad-based decline in shares of several of the companies in the sector such as Muscat Finance Company (-7.8 percent) and National Finance Company (-6.1 percent). In comparison, the Industrial Index registered a 2.6 percent monthly gain during June-2024 to close the month at 6,066.3 points, while the Services Index witnessed a monthly gain of 1 percent for the month, closing the month at 1,820.4 points.
In terms of company performance, National Gas Company topped the gainers list with a share price gain of 40.5 percent followed by Construction Material Industries and Shell Oman Marketing with 23.8 percent and 14 percent monthly share gains, respectively. On the decliner’s side, Al Madina Investment Holding Company led the chart with an 15.2 percent share price fall followed by Oman Refreshment Company and Renaissance Services Company which witnessed a share price drop of 11.8 percent and 10.5 percent, respectively.
Trading activity on the exchange witnessed a significant decline during June-2024. Total volume of shares traded in the exchange declined by 63.2 percent to 205.7 million during June-2024 shares as compared to 559 million in May-2024. Similarly, total value traded in the exchange declined by 54.2 percent to OMR41.1 million against OMR89.8 million in May-2024. Bank Muscat topped the monthly value traded chart with trades at OMR9.3 million followed by Galfar Engineering and Contracting and Sohar Bank with total value traded at OMR4.9 million and OMR3.7 million, respectively. In terms of monthly volume traded, Bank Muscat topped the list too with 36.8 million shares followed by Galfar Engineering and Contracting and Sohar Bank with volumes at 28.8 million shares and 26.8 million shares, respectively.
In economic news, in its Spring 2024 Gulf Economic Update report the World Bank emphasised Oman’s economic outlook as favourable with real gross domestic product (GDP) expected growth of 1.5 percent in 2024. The Bank underlined that expected increased gas production and the Sultanate’s diversification efforts were the key drivers of growth for the country. The World Bank noted that government initiatives such those that support Small and Medium Enterprises and programs to improve the Sultanate’s business environment as well as the acceleration of government investment in renewable energy were some of the key drivers of long-term economic growth in the country.
Furthermore, the Sultanate’s economic growth is expected to be supported by global demand recovery and increased investment in non-hydrocarbons and renewable energy. In context, Oman’s real GDP reached OMR10.4 billion during the first quarter of 2024 according to data from the Sultanate’s National Centre (NCSI) for Statistics.
Oman’s oil-related activities witnessed 3.8 percent decline during the first quarter of 2024 to reach OMR3.5 billion. Comparatively, Oman’s non-petroleum sector recorded 3.9 percent year-on-year growth to reach OMR7.2 billion during the first quarter of 2024 mainly driven by agricultural and industrial activities which increased by 5.5 percent year-on-year during the first quarter of 2024.
GCC index ends in the green
After three consecutive months of decline, the GCC index monthly performance witnessed its first monthly gain during June-2024 amid mixed market performance in the region. A similar trend was seen in key global benchmarks mainly reflecting mixed messaging coming on the global inflation front. Nevertheless, the latest economic data from the US indicated the growth possibility of a rate cut in the near term.
The MSCI GCC index was up by 3.4 percent during the month mainly led by strong gains in Qatar and Abu Dhabi benchmarks further supported by low-single-digit gains in Saudi and Dubai benchmarks.
Gains in Qatar came as a relief rally after the index witnessed consecutive declines over the last few months and was the worst performing market in the GCC with double digit declines. The gains of 7 percent during June-2024 lowered these declines year-to-date to 8 percent, still the biggest drop in the GCC. These monthly gains were partially offset by declines seen in markets of Kuwait and Bahrain. The first half of 2024 performance of the MSCI GCC index showed a relatively smaller decline of 5.1 percent reflecting equivalent gains and declines in individual markets. Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait continued to remain in the green during the first half of 2024, albeit with low-single digit gains.
On the sector front, the Insurance index showed double-digit monthly gain of 10.6 percent during June-2024 followed by Healthcare and F&B indices with gains of 8 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively. Large-cap sectors like Banks and Telecom showed relatively smaller gains of 4.6 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively. On the decliner’s side, the Utilities index topped with a decline of 4.8 percent followed by Materials and Consumer Durables indices with declines of 1.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively. The Energy index also showed a marginal decline of 0.6 percent.
