Omani stocks remain resilient amid regional challenges

Omani stocks remain resilient amid regional challenges

Muscat: The Omani stock market experienced a slight uptick for the second consecutive week, posting a 0.22 percent gain as it tested breaking the resistance level at 4,800 points level, according to an analyst.

“This week, Oman stood out as an exception in the region, where other markets closed negatively due to external pressures including geopolitical developments and hawkish Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes, compounded by declining oil prices,” said Joseph Dahrieh, Managing Principal at Tickmill.

Sectoral performance in Oman was mixed this week. The financial sector saw notable gains, increasing by 1.5 percent where the banking stocks led the trading volume this week in the general market. Sohar International Bank rose by 2.21 percent, and Bank Nizwa surged by 5.88 percent, both being among the most actively traded stocks leading the sector performance. Additionally, Oman Arab Bank achieved significant gains, up by 11.54 percent.

Conversely, the Industrial sector declined by 0.09 percent. Galfar Engineering & Contracting contributed to this downturn with a decrease of 1.21 percent, while Jazeera Steel Products dropped by 3.39 percent.

The Services sector saw the largest losses, recording a 1 percent fall. Sembcorp Salalah and Dhofar Generating weighed on the sector with declines amounting to 2.91 percent and