Muscat: Trading activity last week reflected a clear upswing in investor confidence, as market participants positioned themselves ahead of the announcement of initial financial results by public shareholding companies. On January 5, the MSX index broke through the 6,000-point barrier, reaching its best level since May 2016, before continuing its upward momentum to close the week at 6,126 points, the strongest level since August 2015.

The benchmark index gained 230 points during the week, doubling its previous gains, supported by strong performances across investment, banking, industrial and services stocks. Sectoral indices also closed firmly higher, led by the financial sector, which rose 588 points to 10,572 points. The industrial sector gained 284 points, the services sector advanced 76 points, while the Sharia index rose 27 points to close at 556 points.

Market gains were underpinned by positive movements in several leading companies across the banking, energy, telecommunications and industrial sectors. Market breadth also remained positive, with prices of 61 securities rising, compared to 14 decliners and 15 stocks closing unchanged.

Market capitalisation increased by RO 815.2 million over the week, reaching RO 32.93 billion by the close of trading on Thursday. The rise was supported by higher share prices as well as new listings in the bond, sukuk and closed companies markets. During the week, the MSX listed the tenth issue of sovereign sukuk valued at RO 200 million and recorded the capital increase of Eshraq Sembcorp Jinko in the closed market, lifting its capital to RO 48.4 million.

Trading value surged by 65 per cent week-on-week to more than RO 266 million, compared to RO 160.5 million in the previous week. The number of executed transactions rose by 22 per cent to 26,686 trades. Bank Sohar International led trading activity with RO 66.6 million in trades, accounting for 25 per cent of total market turnover, followed by OQ Exploration and Production, Bank Muscat, OQ Basic Industries and Asyad Shipping.

On the gainers’ list, Lifa mandatory convertible bonds issued in 2024 recorded the strongest rise, climbing 36 per cent to close at 98 baisa. Al Sharqiyah Investment, Dhofar Food and Investment, Ominvest and Bank Nizwa also posted double-digit gains. Meanwhile, Majan Glass led the decliners with a fall of 22.2 per cent, followed by Muscat Insurance, Oman Cables Industry, Musandam Power and Oman Cement.

In company news, Ooredoo announced that the Ooredoo Group has agreed to exempt Ooredoo Oman from service fees for one year to support the company during the 2025 financial year. The exemption, estimated at RO 7.1 million, is expected to have a positive impact of around RO 6.3 million on the company’s net profits for 2025.