Muscat: The Muscat Stock Exchange (MSM) experienced notable declines last week, marked by a decrease in demand for blue-chip shares and a significant shift in investor focus towards OQ E and P, which recently listed on the exchange.

According to Yemen News Agency, the MSM’s main index fell by 62 points, closing at 4,643 points, marking the third consecutive week of decline.

The market’s downturn last week resulted in a drop in the prices of 50 securities, while only 15 securities saw price increases and 19 remained stable. This contributed to a reduction in the market capitalization of the exchange, which fell to 27 billion and 436 million Omani riyals by the end of Thursday’s trading, with a weekly loss of 115.6 million Omani riyals.

Conversely, trading value saw a rise to OMR 42.8 million, up from OMR 38.8 million the previous week, representing a ten percent growth. This increase was largely driven by heightened trading activity in OQ E and P shares, as both retail and foreign institutional investors o
pted to sell.

Additionally, there was significant investor interest in the Jabal Real Estate Investment Fund, which recorded trading worth one million and 555 thousand Omani riyals, accounting for 3.6 percent of the total trading value during the week.