MSX index sees growth in first quarter of 2021

MSX index sees growth in first quarter of 2021

Muscat: Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) posted a positive performance by the end of the first quarter of 2021 (Q1-2021). MSX main index added 50 points and closed at 3708. 71 points, thus breaking the chain of negative performance that shackled the stock exchange since the first quarter of 2017. The value of traded securities surged dramatically by 143 per cent to OMR85. 79 million. The proportion of companies that disclosed their results stood at 95 per cent. As many as 70 firms made profits. The overall gains aggregated at OMR154 million, with 55 per cent of the total number of companies posting growth in their results in 2021. The positive figures came as a result of gains made in March 2021 when oil prices started recovering and stabilising at a rate of $60 per barrel. This also coincided with the announcement of the Economic Stimulus Plan and the steady rate of COVID-19 vaccination. Dr Salah A-Talib, an economic and securities expert at MSX, said that the major improvement in oil prices was among the salient features of the positive outlook during the first quarter's results in 2021 (compared to the corresponding period last year) because the majority of business activities