Muscat: The market value of the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) increased by OMR 328.6 million, reaching OMR 27.64 billion by the end of March, compared to February levels. Despite this gain, MSX experienced a volatile performance in March as publicly listed companies announced their dividends for the fiscal year ending December 31.

According to Qatar News Agency, the main index closed lower for the third consecutive month, ending March at 4,367 points, down by 68 points from February. Trading value for March amounted to OMR 124.2 million, a sharp decline from OMR 234.5 million in February.

All sectoral indices recorded losses including the Industrial Index by 284 points, the Financial Index by 49 points, the Services Index by 33 points, the Sharia Index 23 points, and the total number of executed trades by 2.8%, with 17,347 transactions in March, compared to 17,843 in February.

Additionally, the prices of 24 securities rose, while 61 declined, and 17 remained unchanged.