Omani stock market continues to shine in the region

Muscat: The Omani stock market marked a positive weekly performance, closing with a 1.27 percent increase and approaching March highs, according to an analyst.

“The main index outperformed other stock markets in the region this week. The ongoing earnings releases and some positive individual stock developments helped the market and sentiment, despite the strong decline in oil prices,” said George Khoury, Global Head of Education and Research at CFI.

In terms of sector performance, both the Financial and Industrial sectors led the gains, while the Services sector was on the negative side.

The Financial sector posted a 1.85 percent increase, with Sohar International Bank leading the gains by 10.48 percent, being the most traded stock based on both value and volume this week and one of the most traded for the third week in a row, owing to its strong results in the first quarter of 2024. Ahli Bank also gained 4.52 percent, while Almadina Investment Holding was the best performer in the sector, surging more than 27 percent after the announcement of the evaluation work that started to determine the fair value of the share to accomplish its transformation from a Public Joint Stock Company to a Closed Joint Stock Company.

The Industrial sector also performed well, rising by 1.61 percent. Jazeera Steel Products and Al Anwar Ceramic gained 4.17 percent and 4.05 percent, respectively. Raysut Cement and Voltamp Energy also saw gains of 1.60 percent and 8.68 percent, respectively, with the latter benefiting from one of its subsidiary companies signing a contract to supply high-voltage transformers to the General Electricity Company of Libya.

The Services sector, however, declined by 0.64 percent this week. Ooredoo, OQ Gas Networks, and Abraj Energy Services fell by 1.65 percent, 0.69 percent, and 1.64 percent, respectively. Barka Water and Power saw a significant decline of 12.42 percent.

“Overall, the market could further benefit from the efforts to draw new initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2024, which could help improve liquidity as well as boost attractiveness and performance,” said George Khoury.

“The efforts are driven by a positive outlook for the market and an increase in trading activities. The exchange aims to elevate its status and is focusing on the privatisation of several companies as part of this initiative, including logistics, services, and energy companies,” he further added.