MUSCAT: Omani individual investors started buying in last week’s trading on the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX), taking advantage of the low prices that stocks fell to, which have been declining for about 3 weeks, against the backdrop of the IPO in OQ Gas Networks Company, which will begin next week.
Trading data issued by the Muscat Stock Exchange indicated that purchases by Omani individual investors last week accounted for 34.1 per cent of the total trading value, compared to sales of 10.9 per cent.
This demand comes after stock prices declined to levels encouraging purchases in light of optimistic expectations that the financial results of public joint-stock companies listed on the stock exchange for the third quarter of this year will witness further improvement.
During the past week, the Muscat Stock Exchange witnessed more pressure on share prices with the approaching subscription for OQ Gas Networks Company, which announced last week that subscription for 49 per cent of its shares offered for public subscription will begin on September 26 and end on October 5 for the second category, which includes small subscribers and October 9 for the first category, for which subscription starts at 100,000 shares. The share price was set at 126 baisas for the second category, and within a price range between 131 baisas and 140 baisas per share for the first category.
The pressure on stock prices led to a decline in the prices of 44 securities, compared to only 9 securities whose prices rose and 19 securities that stabilised at their previous levels. This pressure led to a decline in the market value of the Muscat Stock Exchange to RO 23.503 billion, recording weekly losses at RO 245.8 million.
The declines witnessed by the stocks also pushed the main index of the stock market and the sectoral indices to decline. The main index fell by 49 points and closed at 4676 points, and the financial sector index recorded the highest declines at 126 points, the industrial sector index declined 90 points, the services sector index 44 points, and the Sharia index fell by 5 points.
The demand of individual investors led to an increase in the number of deals executed last week to 2,329 deals, compared to 1,655 deals in the previous week, recording an increase of 40 per cent, and the trading value rose from about RO 11.7 million to more than RO 16.4 million. — ONA
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
