Saturday 14 / March / 2026
Muscat: The main index of the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) resumed its rise during the week, increasing by 360 points and closing at 7,739 points, benefiting from the rise in shares of many leading companies with the start of the annual distribution season.
Sectoral indices recorded a positive performance during the past week, with the industrial sector index rising by 283 points, the financial sector index rising by 193 points, the services sector index recording an increase of 100 points, and the Sharia index rising by 18 points, concluding the week's trading at 651 points.
The Muscat Stock Exchange benefited last week with the rises recorded by many leading stocks such as Bank Muscat, Salalah Mills, Asyad Shipping, Voltamp Energy, Al Safa Foods, OQ Gas Networks, Ooredoo, Omantel, Abraj Energy Services and many other stocks that recorded a remarkable rise in conjunction with the holding of the annual ordinary general meetings of public shareholding companies whose financial year ended on December 31st.
Bank Muscat will hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on March 17, during which a cash dividend of 18 baisa per share will be discussed. The stock rose by 54 baisa in trading last week, closing at 480 baisa, with trading exceeding OMR70 million. Salalah Port Services' stock rose by 40 baisa, closing at 440 baisa. The company will hold its Annual General Meeting on March 15, during which a cash dividend of 15 baisa will be discussed. Salalah Mills' stock recorded a remarkable rise from 440 baisa to 634 baisa, registering an increase of 44 percent. This rise came after the company announced its intention to distribute a cash dividend of 60 baisa per share, noting that it had submitted this proposal to the Annual General Meeting scheduled for March 31.
This week will see a number of other companies hold their annual general meetings, during which the distribution of dividends recommended by the boards of directors during the past weeks will be discussed and approved. These include: Ooredoo, OQ Basic Industries, Al Sharqiyah Desalination, Muscat Thread Mills, and National Industrial Detergents. Last week, the annual general meeting of OQ Exploration and Production approved a cash dividend of 7.23 baisa per share. The meeting also authorised the board of directors to determine and distribute cash dividends to shareholders for the first quarter of 2026, with the entitlement date being May 24. The stock jumped in trading last week to 533 baisa, recording its best level since the company's listing on the Muscat Stock Exchange. However, it reduced its gains at the end of the week's trading to close at 490 baisa, recording a weekly increase of 13 baisa.
The rise in oil prices boosted stock gains, with the average price of Omani crude rising above $120 per barrel at the start of last week's trading and jumping to $134 on Thursday. The positive atmosphere of dividend distributions and rising oil prices was reflected in the Muscat Stock Exchange, which managed to achieve gains in its market capitalisation of OMR944 million during the week, ending the week's trading at OMR37.22 billion. This atmosphere was also reflected in the trading value, which rose to OMR415.9 million, compared to OMR277.2 million in the previous week, registering an increase of 50 percent. The number of executed transactions also increased by 23.8 percent, from 27,000 transactions to about 34,000.
OQ Exploration and Production (OQEP) topped the list of most traded companies in terms of trading value at OMR88.7 million, accounting for 21.3 percent of the total trading value. Bank Sohar International came in second with trading valued at OMR79.9 million, Bank Muscat came in third with trading valued at OMR70.3 million, OQ Basic Industries came in fourth with trading valued at OMR60.2 million, and OQ Gas Networks came in fifth with trading valued at OMR56.3 million, accounting for 13.5 percent of the total trading value.
The week saw the prices of 45 securities rise, compared to 26 securities whose prices declined and 23 securities that remained unchanged at their previous levels. The shares of Galfar Engineering and Contracting, Salalah Mills, Financial Services, Raysut Cement, and Asyad Shipping were at the forefront of the winning stocks, while Muscat Insurance, Oman Fisheries, Al Anwar Ceramic Tiles, Muscat Finance, and Al Sharqiyah Investment Holding topped the list of losing stocks, recording declines ranging between 5.8 percent and 13.8 percent.
