Saturday 18 / July / 2026
Muscat: The Muscat Stock Exchange recorded a remarkable performance during the first half of 2026, benefiting from the growth achieved by the national economy and the injection of more liquidity into trading by local investment funds and institutions. These were reflected positively on the main index, sectoral indices, trading volumes and values, deals executed and market value.
Adel Walid, Director of Brokerage at United Securities Company, pointed out that the Muscat Stock Exchange performed well during the first half of this year, with the main index rising by 28 percent, making it the best performing stock exchange among the Gulf stock exchanges and among the best stock exchanges globally.
He told the Oman News Agency that these results were driven by improved fundamentals for listed companies and their good profits during the first quarter of this year, in addition to the rise in oil prices above the average break-even price in the budget, which reached about $89 per barrel during the first half of this year, which had a positive impact on the performance of listed stocks.
He explained that this improvement in the stock exchange’s performance was accompanied by a strong rise in liquidity levels, as the average liquidity during the first half of the year rose to about OMR58 million, compared to OMR25 million last year. The stock exchange also witnessed a very strong improvement in the number of transactions executed, as the growth rate exceeded 200 percent, which reflects the expansion of the base of participants in the market from individual investors, in addition to local, foreign and Gulf institutions.
He further pointed out that expectations suggest that the Muscat Stock Exchange will continue to maintain the momentum it achieved during the first half of this year, with expectations of a greater recovery in trading volumes during the second half, especially with the new listings, most notably the Omifco company, which succeeded in attracting more than OMR4.6 billion in subscription requests, which is the highest figure ever recorded in the history of the Muscat Stock Exchange, reflecting the growing confidence in the market by local and foreign institutions, in addition to individual investors.
He added that forecasts also indicate that oil prices will maintain their gains and remain stable above $70 to $75 per barrel, which will make this year an excellent fiscal year for the state’s general budget. He also expects the Sultanate of Oman to witness further improvement in its credit ratings by global rating agencies, which will contribute to attracting more investments to the local market.
He pointed out that, despite these gains, the Muscat Stock Exchange still enjoys attractive ratings compared to the markets in the region, which qualifies it to continue rising and achieving further improvement during the coming period, especially with expectations of positive developments in the stock exchange upgrade file during September or October of this year, which would contribute to attracting more foreign investments to the market.
