Muscat – The benchmark index of the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) has continued its downward trajectory in 2025, declining by 2.4% in February to close the month at 4,435.9 points. This followed a 0.7% drop in January, reflecting a continued bearish trend.

Throughout February, the MSX30 Index traded within a narrow, declining range, primarily due to a lack of significant market catalysts, according to a research report released by Kamco Investment.

Sectoral performance on the MSX was mixed, with two out of the three sector indices on the exchange recording losses during the month, while the third reported a gain. The Financial Index fell by 1.1%, closing the month at 7,739.7 points. This decline was largely driven by losses in shares of major companies within the sector, including National Bank of Oman (-4.8%) and Sohar International Bank (-3.6%).

The Services Index also declined during the month, falling by 3.5% to close at 1,632.9 points. In contrast, the Industrial Index posted a notable monthly gain of 7.8%, closing in February 2025 at 5,832.22 points.

In terms of company performance, Al Jazeera Steel Products topped the gainers list with a share price gain of 25.4%, followed by Oman Cement and Construction Materials Industries, which recorded monthly share price gains of 24.0% and 20.6%, respectively.

On the decliners’ side, Oman Cables Industry led the chart with a share price fall of 11.6%, followed by Ooredoo Oman and Muscat Gases, which saw share price drops of 10.3% and 10.0%, respectively.

Trading activity rises

Trading activity on the MSX saw strong gains in February. The total volume of shares traded on the exchange increased by 166.4%, rising to 1.1bn shares in February compared to 424.8mn shares in January.

Similarly, the total value traded on the exchange increased by 204.5%, reaching RO217mn against RO71.3mn in January. OQ Exploration & Production topped the monthly value traded chart with trades amounting to RO13.8mn, followed by OQ Base Industries and Bank Muscat, with total values traded of RO5.2mn and RO4.2mn, respectively.

In terms of monthly volume traded, Ahlibank topped the list with 828mn shares, followed by OQ Base Industries and OQ Exploration & Production with volumes of 51.3mn shares and 43.6mn shares, respectively.

GCC markets

According to Kamco Investment’s report, after witnessing healthy gains at the start of the month, the GCC MSCI Index closed February with a marginal decline, led by a fall in large-cap stocks. The decline occurred despite positive performance recorded by three out of the seven exchanges in the region.

‘The decline reflected a fall in key global markets, including the US, driven by factors such as an economic slowdown, the geopolitical standoff between Russia and Ukraine, elevated valuations, and the uncertainty surrounding trade wars. Crude oil also had an uneventful month, declining by 4.7% due to increasing supply,’ the report said.

The GCC monthly performance chart showed a marginal decline of 0.4% for the MSCI GCC Index. At the exchange level, Bahrain was the best-performing market during the month with a gain of 4.3%, closely followed by Kuwait with a gain of 4.1%. Dubai also registered growth of 2.6%.

On the other hand, Saudi Arabia was the biggest declining market in the region, falling by 2.4%, in line with the decline in Oman. Qatar and Abu Dhabi followed with declines of 2.1% and 0.2%, respectively. In terms of year-to-date performance, the GCC remained in the green with a gain of 2.6%, reflecting gains at the start of the year. Kuwait was the best-performing market.