Industrial companies listed on the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) doubled their gains last week, continuing the upward trend that was first observed in August 2022.

This uptick pushed the industrial sectors’ indices to rise by 321 points last week, or 5.3 per cent, after its rise in the previous week by 3.3 per cent. The sector index closed last week’s trading at 6,320 points, recording its best performance since October 10, 2021.

The rise came amid positive results recorded by many industrial companies included in the industrial sector index sample.

These industrial companies also contributed to the rise of the Shariah index by 20 points, concluding their weekly trading at 487 points.

The sample of the Shariah index includes seven industrial companies, the most prominent of which is the Oman Cables Industry Company, which has a weightage of 14.2 per cent in the index.

The company’s shares rose last week by 33 per cent, closing at RO1.330. The stock had reportedly performed well in the weeks prior – rising from 896 baisas to RO1 – an increase of 11.6 per cent.

The current profit of the group increased to RO4.9mn, compared to RO3.4mn in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Al Anwar Ceramic Tiles also supported the Industrial and Shariah indices, after rising by 3.7 per cent, concluding their weekly trading at 440 baisas.

The price index sample in the industrial sector also witnessed the rise of the shares of Raysut Cement, Oman Cement, Building Materials Industry, and Galfar Engineering and Contracting, which are not included in the Shariah index sample.

On the other hand, the financial sector index recorded a loss of 24 points, while the services sector index decreased by 14 points, and the main index of the MSX lost 15 points, declining for the second week in a row, concluding the week’s trading at 4,606 points.

The number of executed deals last week increased by about 400 to rise to 3,505 deals, while trading value decreased by 42 per cent to reach RO11.5mn, compared to about RO20.1mn in the previous week.

This decline coincided with the consequent drop in stock prices and the state of calm that the stock market witnessed last week after a period of rising.

Bank Muscat was the most heavily traded company in the Sultanate in terms of trading value after it witnessed transactions worth RO1.458mn – roughly 12.6 per cent of the total trading value.

Raysut Cement came second after it witnessed transactions worth RO1.401mn, followed by Galfar Engineering and Contractive, Al Maha Petroleum Products Marketing Company, and Omantel.

The prices of 29 securities rose last week when compared with 29 other securities whose prices fell, and 13 securities that maintained previous levels.