Muscat: Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) witnessed a 25 percent increase in total trading value last week, rising from OMR 24.8 million to OMR 30.9 million.

According to Qatar News Agency, the uptick in trading activity came on the back of robust buying momentum from investors seeking to capitalize on available opportunities, following the global equity downturn triggered by the United States’ announcement of reciprocal tariffs on a wide array of international trading partners, with a minimum rate of 10 percent.

Omani investors, both individuals and institutional entities, accounted for a dominant share of the trading value, with purchases comprising 91.3 percent of total trades, while their sales represented 78.3 percent of the week’s transactions.

Despite the heightened trading activity, the market capitalization of MSX declined by the end of last week’s sessions to OMR 27.218 billion, reflecting weekly losses amounting to OMR 420.8 million.

MSX main index shed 96 points, closing at 4,270, with the financial sector index dropping by 140 points, while the services sector index lost nearly 66 points. The industrial sector index contracted by 19 points, and the Sharia-compliant index dipped by 5 points to close at 378.

Investors in the Muscat market interpreted the recent pullbacks as an opportunity to reposition and rebuild their investment portfolios, especially as listed public joint-stock companies began releasing their financial statements for the first quarter of 2025 fiscal year.

The number of executed trades rose sharply by 30 percent, surpassing 7,530 transactions compared to 5,791 trades in the preceding week. Thirteen securities recorded gains in value, while 49 declined, and ten remained unchanged at their previous levels.