The market ended the previous week on a negative note. The MSM30 Index declined by 0.32 per cent at 5,007.77; YTD 1.79 per cent. As the dividend season is approaching, stocks which were able to maintain profits despite challenges were the ones which attracted most trades. Industrial index closed up by 0.29 per cent at 6,747.23. Financial Index closed down by 0.32 per cent at 7,377.42 and Services Index closed down by 0.63 per cent at 2,605.71. The MSM Shariah Index closed down by 0.66 per cent.
Following investment friendly laws and government drive to bring in foreign investment, recently one of the leading cotton yarn producer decided to establish maiden cotton yarn project in the GCC region. The cornerstone for this promising economic sector is being laid by India’s ShriVallabh Pittie Group (SVP), a global leader in the manufacture of cotton yarn — the raw material for textiles. The Group’s Oman subsidiary, SV Pittie Sohar Textiles FZC LLC, is preparing to launch work on its $300m cotton yarn project on a 27-hectare site at the free zone adjoining the Port of Sohar.
The SVP Group is investing in the fundamental building block of what will inevitably evolve into a major textile hub. With a cotton yarn plant in place, the potential for upstream, downstream, forward and backward integration is huge, and so is the opportunity for employment generation.
The total real estate activity in the Sultanate by the end of 2017 reached to RO 2.60bn which is a decrease of 60.6 per cent over the end of 2016, according to preliminary data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information. The number of sales contracts fell by 12.7 per cent to 59,480 contracts in the end of 2017 compared with 68,145 contracts by the end of 2016. The number of mortgage contracts was 18,619 contracts, down 17.6 per cent compared with the end of 2016.
In the weekly technical analysis, as we mentioned in our previous analysis of the index breaking the level of 5,000 points, which is achieved. Where technical analysis indicates that if the index is broken this level will move towards the second support level at 4,960 points. If this level breaks, the MSM 30 index will touch the level of 4,930 points.
Oman Public Finance for 11M’17 showed a deficit (before means of financing) of RO 3.3bn representing a decline of 33.2 per cent (i.e. RO 1.64bn) on yearly basis as per the National Center for Statistics and Information. Post means of financing the remaining Surplus stood at RO 1.66bn compared with only RO 417.8m in 11M’16. Net loans (not including net local loans and financing from reserves) formed 82.9 per cent of total loans compared with 66.4 per cent in 11M’16. Net oil revenues and gas revenues stood at RO 5.38bn, up by 23.3 per cent on yearly basis and forming 74.6 per cent of the total revenues, which came at RO 7.2bn.
Total expenditures were up by 8 per cent to RO 10.4bn on higher current and investment expenditures. The latter formed 24.1 per cent of total expenditure in 11M’17 compared to 22 per cent for 11M’16. Current expenditures went up by 5.8 per cent largely due to notable rise of Interest on Loans, which formed 40.2 per cent of the total increase. Total oil and gas production expenditures (current and investment) saw a rise of 17.3 per cent on yearly basis at RO 1.7bn during 11M’17.
Locally, the daily average oil production came lower by 3.4 per cent on annual basis for 2017 at 970.6k bbl in order to abide by Opec — Non Opec agreement to cut productions starting 2017, the latest data provided by the National Centre for Statistics and Information showed. The average price stood at $51.3/bbl a notable increase of 27.8 per cent compared to the same period last year, thus supporting the government fiscal position. China remains as top importer of Omani oil with portion of 70.5 per cent in 2017 versus 78 per cent in 2016 followed by India at 9.9 per cent. On the other hand, exports as percentage of productions went down to 83 per cent versus 88 per cent in 2016.
Qatar Exchange topped the GCC financial markets gainers closing up by 2.82 per cent on weekly basis while the DFM declined the most during the week by 1.77 per cent.
The GCC countries’ holdings of the US Treasuries rose 0.2 per cent to $257.65bn in November 2017, compared to $257.12bn in October, according to US Department of the Treasury. Saudi Arabia’s holdings ranked first among the GCC economies, jumping 2.6 per cent to $149.03bn in November versus $145.2bn a month earlier. The UAE came second, holding $58.2bn of the US Treasuries during November, compared to $57.7bn the previous month. Kuwait treasury holding stood at $36.8bn versus $39.4bn in October 2017.
Oman, Bahrain and Qatar combined holding of US treasuries stand at $13.65bn in November 2017. Oman’s holding stood at $12.7bn followed by Bahrain at $0.6bn and Qatar at $0.3bn only.
— Courtesy: U-Capital
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