Muscat: The MSX 30 index registered the biggest monthly gain in the GCC during May-2024 at 1.3 percent to close the month at 4,845.7 points, according to a new report.
“The Financial Index was the primary driver of Oman’s index growth during the month as it recorded a 3.2 percent increase during May-2024, the biggest gain among the indices, to close the month at 8,015.2 points,” the Kuwait-based Kamco Invest said in its GCC Markets Monthly Report May 2024.
The growth was mainly driven by gains in shares of several of the companies in the sector such as Oman Arab Bank (+20 percent) and Bank Nizwa (+13.1 percent).
In comparison, the Industrial Index registered a monthly gain of 1 percent during May-2024 to close the month at 5,915.1 points, while the Services Index witnessed a monthly drop of 1.7 percent for the month, closing the month at 1,801.8 points.
The Kamco Invest report further said that in terms of company performance, Oman Arab Bank topped the gainers list with a share price gain of 20 percent followed by Oman Cables Industry Company and Bank Nizwa with 15 percent and 13.1 percent monthly share gains, respectively. Oman Arab Bank recently announced that it has appointed Ubhar Capital as a liquidity provider for the bank’s shares listed in MSX as a strategy to revitalise capital markets. On the decliner’s side, Al Hassan Engineering Company led the chart with a 20 percent share price fall followed by Dhofar Beverages & Foodstuff Company and Dhofar Generating Company which witnessed a share price drop of 10.8 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
Trading activity on the exchange witnessed a moderate decline during May 2024, according to Kmaco Invest. Total volume of shares traded in the exchange declined by 6.6 percent to 559.0 million during April 2024 shares as compared to 696.3 million in April 2024.
Similarly, the total value traded in the exchange decreased by 22.7 percent to OMR89.8 million against OMR116.2 million in April-2024. Sohar Bank topped the monthly value traded chart with trades at OMR6.9 million followed by Galfar Engineering & Contracting Company and Bank Muscat with total value traded at OMR6.4 million and OMR5.7 million, respectively. In terms of monthly volume traded, Sohar Bank was also top of the list with 50.6 million shares followed by Bank Muscat and Galfar Engineering & Contracting Company with volumes at 38.6 million shares and 38.4 million shares, respectively.
In economic news, according to the World Bank’s recent GCC economic update report, the Sultanate’s economy is expected to expand by 1.5 percent in 2024 mainly driven by increased gas production coupled with diversification reforms including efforts to strengthen the business environment, support the role of SMEs in the economy, and accelerate investments in renewable energy and green hydrogen. The World Bank’s economic projection for the Sultanate is an improvement of the 1.2 percent growth projection for 2024 by the IMF in April-2024. Furthermore, the World Bank projects that Oman’s growth would accelerate over the medium term driven by global demand recovery and growth in investment of renewable energy.
Fitch has penciled an overall GDP growth projection of 1.8 percent in 2024 for Oman following a 1.3 percent GDP growth in 2023. The growth in 2024 is expected to be driven by non-oil growth of 2.7 percent supported by greater domestic consumption coupled with strong foreign investment. The ratings agency forecasts that the Sultanate’s oil GDP is expected to witness a slight contraction during the year, the Kamco Invest report said.
GCC markets slide
GCC equity market index declined for the third straight month in May 2024 as geopolitical issues and lower crude oil prices worsened a sell-off in global emerging markets.
The decline also reflected bets favouring higher for longer interest rates since the start of the month and the resulting higher borrowing rates for regional corporates, although the latest data for personal consumption expenditure in the US reignited bets for a rate cut this year.
The MSCI GCC Index registered the biggest decline in 17 months after declining by 6.4 percent during May-2024 to close at 658.85 points. The decline reflected a fall in four out of seven regional indices while three reported gains during the month.
The Kuwait All Share Index remained flat during the month after the marginal decline in the large-cap Premier Market index was fully offset by a gain in the Main Market index. Saudi Arabia reported the biggest decline during the month with the TASI falling by 7.2 percent, the biggest monthly decline since September-2022, to reach the lowest level in more than five months.
Dubai and Qatari benchmarks were next with declines of more than 4 percent. In terms of year-to-date 2024 performance, the decline during the month pushed the MSCI CC index further in the red to reach 8.2 percent by the end of May-2024. Qatar’s DSM Index registered the biggest decline since the start of the year at –14 percent followed by Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia with declines of 7.5 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively. On the other hand, Kuwait and Bahrain stock markets reported gains of 3.4 percent during the first five months of the year.
The monthly sector performance chart showed a broad-based decline with all sectors in the red. The F&B index was the worst-performing benchmark with a fall of 9.6 percent while Utilities and Energy reported smallest monthly declines of 2 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively.
