Omani individual investors turned to buying in weekly trading

Muscat: Omani individual investors turned to buying in weekly trading on the Muscat Stock Exchange as the announcement of the first quarter financial results was completed and investors assessed the financial positions of publicly listed companies on the exchange.

This comes at a time when the Muscat Stock Exchange has redistributed companies across the regular, parallel and follow-up markets as part of the annual evaluation conducted by the exchange of companies’ performance, level of shareholders’ equity, average return on investment, number of trading days, stock turnover rate and stock trading volume.

During the week, individual Omani investors purchased shares worth OMR80.6 million, representing 22.1 percent of the total trading value, compared to sales worth OMR75.3 million, representing 20.7 percent of the total trading value.

At the end of April, the Muscat Stock Exchange announced a new amendment to the distribution of public shareholding companies across market divisions. It came into effect on May 7 and included the transfer of 19 companies from the parallel market to the main market, the transfer of one company from the main market to the parallel market, and the transfer of two companies from the follow-up market to the parallel market after fulfilling the shareholders' rights criterion. With the new amendments, the number of companies listed on the main market increased from 24 companies to 43 companies, and the number of companies listed on the main market decreased from 72 companies to 56 companies. The number of companies listed on the follow-up market also decreased from 17 companies to 14 companies.

The number of transactions executed during the week rose by 11.7 percent from 27,000 to more than 30,000 transactions, benefiting from the increased buying interest of individual investors. In contrast, the value of trading declined slightly by 1.7 percent, from OMR370.1 million Omani riyals to OMR363.6 million.

Trading data released by the Muscat Stock Exchange during the week showed good performance for sectoral indices, which closed higher, while the main index declined by about 19 points and closed at 8,350 points amid selling pressure on the shares of a number of leading companies.

The services sector index recorded the highest gains, rising 61 points and closing at 3,328 points, benefiting from the rise in shares of Asyad Shipping, Abraj Energy Services, Sembcorp Salalah, Al Anqa Energy and a number of other energy companies. The financial sector index rose 28 points and closed at 13,267 points, the industrial sector index rose 23 points and closed at 10,214 points, and the Sharia index recorded an increase of 6 points and closed at 662 points.

The market capitalisation of securities listed on the Muscat Stock Exchange declined at the end of the week’s trading to OMR38.33 billion, recording weekly losses of OMR93.6 million.

OQ Exploration and Production topped the list of most traded companies with a trading value of OMR67.2 million, representing 18.4 percent of the total trading value. The stock rose at the beginning of the week’s trading to 548 baisa, but it was unable to continue rising amid heavy selling that pushed it back down to 510 baisa, recording a weekly decline of 7 baisa.

Bank Muscat shares saw trading valued at OMR66.1 million, representing 18.1 percent of the total trading value, while Bank Sohar International saw trading valued at OMR56.3 million, representing 15.5 percent of the total trading value. OQ Basic Industries and Omantel were among the top five companies in terms of trading value, with a trading value of OMR51.1 million and OMR43.9 million respectively.

The number of shares whose prices rose during the week was 43 securities, compared to 36 securities whose prices fell and 18 securities that remained unchanged at their previous levels.

Oman Arab Bank’s mandatory conversion bonds recorded the highest gains, rising by 48.3 percent and closing at OMR1.500. Dhofar Food and Investment shares rose by 17.7 percent and closed at 206 baisa. Ahli Bank’s 2025 bonds rose by 14.2 percent and closed at 120 baisa. Abraj Energy Services shares rose by 10.4 percent and closed at 495 baisa. Sembcorp Salalah shares rose by 9.5 percent and closed at 263 baisa.

The Financial Centre (Fincorp) stock led the losing stocks, declining by 15.3 percent and closing at 105 baisa after a rally that lasted for several weeks. Oman Chlorine stock declined by 7.1 percent and closed at 195 baisa, Omantel stock fell by 4.5 percent and closed at OMR1.479 and Bank Muscat stock declined by 3.7 percent and closed at 458 baisa.