Muscat:By the end of September, the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) saw its market capitalization climb to 39.23 billion OMR, marking a rise of approximately 590 million OMR. This growth was largely driven by increased market capitalization among closed companies and publicly traded joint-stock companies on the parallel market.

According to Qatar News Agency, despite the rise in market cap, trading value decreased by 6.4% to 914 million OMR from about 976.5 million OMR in August. However, the number of executed trades increased to 199,000 from 178,000 in the previous month.

Investors on the MSX concentrated on shares of banks, investment and finance companies, insurers, and industrial companies. The focus was influenced by the improved performance of these sectors and in anticipation of the preliminary third-quarter financial results for the current year.

The Financial Sector Index reflected these gains, rising 220 points to close above 13,600 points. Similarly, the Industrial Sector Index increased by about 200 points, closing at 9,812 points. In total, 54 securities saw price increases, while 41 declined and 13 remained unchanged.

Despite these sector gains, the main index was adversely affected by declines and closed at 7,566 points, down 37 points.