Finance stocks lift Muscat

Oman's MSM 30 Index outperformed Gulf indexes by advancing 2.2 per cent. Silvia Razgova / The National

Oman's bourse was a bright spot yesterday as investors poured money into finance stocks after the Islamic lender Bank Nizwa's initial public offering drew to a close.

Trading on the Muscat Securities Market has slowed ever since the start of Bank Nizwa's share sale last month as investors sold local stocks to subscribe to the offering.

Bank Nizwa said it was selling 600 million shares to raise US$158.9 million from investors.

"The market was under pressure and under heavy selling because of the IPO," said Kanaga Sundar, the head of research at Gulf Baader Capital Markets, based in Muscat. "But today is the closing date of the issue. People have already subscribed, so now the market is rebounding in absence of that pressure." Gulf Investment Services jumped 5.8 per cent to 0.09 Omani rials. Oman & Emirates Investment Holding rose 6.8 per cent to 0.14 rials, while Global Finance Investment rose 4.5 per cent to 0.092 rials. Bank Muscat rose 1.9 per cent to 0.59 rials.

Oman's MSM 30 Index advanced 2.2 per cent to 5,750.36, outperforming Gulf indexes.

In the UAE, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index added 0.1 per cent to 2,471.05, while the Dubai Financial Market General Index rose 0.5 per cent to 1,496.56.

Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait's measure slipped 0.5 per cent to 6,381.01. Bahrain's measure lost 0.7 per cent to 1,138.32. Qatar's QE Index added 0.9 per cent to 8,498.73. The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index closed up 1.06 per cent at 7,103.52.

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