Muscat: Industrial companies listed on the Muscat Stock Exchange recorded positive performance last week, coinciding with the start of the release of financial results for the first quarter of this year. The gains in industrial stocks pushed the industrial sector index above 10,100 points, registering a weekly increase of 187 points.
According to Yemen News Agency, last week saw mixed performance for the Muscat Stock Exchange indices. The main index declined by approximately 73 points, but remains at its highest level in 18 years. The main index has seen a remarkable rise this year, breaking the 6,000-point barrier on January 5th and continuing its gains, reaching 7,000 points on February 11th and 8,000 points on March 29th. It closed last week at 8,162 points. Meanwhile, the financial sector index rose by 24 points last week, closing at 12,869 points, and the Sharia-compliant index increased by 16 points, closing at 668 points. The services sector index declined by 24 points, impacted by the drop in shares of Omantel, Ooredoo, and several energy companies.
Trading data from the Muscat Stock Exchange indicated that shares of several industrial companies continued their gains last week. Al Anwar Ceramic Tiles shares rose by 19 percent, closing at 218 baisa; Al Maha Ceramics shares climbed by 6 percent, closing at 296 baisa; Oman Cables Industry shares increased by 6 percent, closing at 2.89 rials; and Al Safa Foods shares rose by 4.7 percent, closing at 880 baisa.
The market capitalization of securities listed on the Muscat Stock Exchange declined at the end of last week's trading to 37.9675 billion Omani rials, registering a weekly loss of 123 million Omani rials.