Muscat – This growth was driven by the listing of a new issue of government development bonds and an uptick in shares of several leading companies on the regular market.

Last week, the MSX listed its 72nd issue of government development bonds, valued at OMR 98 million. The bonds, divided into 980,000 units, have a nominal value of 100 Omani riyals each and offer an annual interest rate of 4.75 percent.

In the regular market, the market value exceeded RO 6 billion, recording a gain of OMR 81.5 million. Conversely, the parallel market saw a slight decrease in its value, falling from RO 6.128 billion to RO 6.079 billion.

Despite the positive market value growth, the MSX indices showed a downward trend. The main index fell by 43 points, closing at 4,705 points. The financial sector index dropped by 69 points, the industrial sector index decreased by 42 points, and the services sector index fell by 36 points. However, the Sharia index saw a modest increase of two points, ending the week at 432 points.

The market also witnessed a decline in trading activity, with the total trading value falling to RO 38.8 million, down from RO 149.3 million the previous week. The number of executed deals also dropped significantly from 21,278 to 10,898.

OQ Exploration and Production shares experienced pressure as investors opted to sell. The share price closed at 359 baisas, down 6 baisas from the previous week after a 25 baisa drop in its first week of trading. The share, which was listed at 390 baisas on October 28, witnessed 8,058 transactions last week, compared to over 18,000 transactions in its first week. The trading value of OQ shares amounted to RO 29.1 million, down from RO 138.3 million in the prior week. The company’s market value declined by RO 48 million, ending the week at RO 2.872 billion.

Investor sentiment last week showed a trend towards selling. Omani individual investors accounted for 51.4 percent of total sales, with purchases at just 8.4 percent. Gulf investment institutions sold 11.5 percent of the total trading value, while foreign investment institutions accounted for 13.8 percent in sales.

A total of 40 securities saw declines, while 20 securities rose, and 18 remained unchanged. The Omani Education and Training Investments share recorded the highest increase, rising by 24.8 percent to 820 baisas. The Jabal Investment Fund units also rose by 8.3 percent, closing at 104 baisas, while the Oman Real Estate Fund units gained 6 percent, closing at 70 baisas.

On the other hand, Majan Glass shares saw the most significant drop, falling by 38 percent to 19 baisas. The company announced it had received initial approval from the Financial Services Authority to convert from a public joint-stock company to a closed joint-stock company. The Oman Investment Authority will begin purchasing shares from shareholders who wish to sell, with the purchase price set at 4 baisas per share. Other companies such as Sembcorp Salalah, Dhofar Food & Investment, National Gas, and Dhofar Power Generation saw declines ranging between 10 percent and 7.1 percent.

The market activity and trends reflect ongoing shifts in investor sentiment and market dynamics, with key developments such as the government bond listing and changes in specific company valuations influencing overall trading patterns