Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Optimism is back as Opec deal lifts MSM

0-msm-01
0-msm-01
minus
plus

By Samuel Kutty — MUSCAT: Dec 3: The Opec deal has brought back optimism to both global oil and global stock markets.  The Muscat Securities Market surged 1.87 per cent on Thursday alone. Oman’s crude price increased by $4.07 on Thursday to reach $49.71 per barrel at Dubai mercantile Exchange, while global oil prices have surged 15 per cent since the announcement. Brent crude rose from $46 per barrel up to $53.77 per barrel by Thursday afternoon. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Wednesday in Vienna reached a deal to cut their oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day in order to raise global prices.


Opec currently produces 33.7 million barrels of oil per day, total. Under the deal, they will bring production down to 32.5 million barrels per day, with Saudi Arabia, Iraq, UAE, and Kuwait making the biggest cuts.


The local bourse witnessed improved trading volume on Thursday on the back of the Opec decision. The benchmark MSM30 Index reached 5,590.16 points, while MSM Shariah Index closed at 851.05 points, up 0.85 per cent.


HSBC Bank was the most active in terms of volume as well as turnover. Al Sharqia Investment, up 5.47 per cent was the top gainer while National was the only loser, down 1.34 per cent. MSM30 Index market capitalisation as at the end of the day stood at RO 6.423 billion whereas overall market capitalisation, excluding bonds, was at RO 8.609 billion.


The Financial Index ended the day higher by 197 points, while the Industrial Index ended the day in green by 68 points.


The Services Index ended the day up by 16 points. A total of 29.474 million shares were traded on Thursday amounting to aggregate turnover of RO 6.067 million.


In the region, the Saudi stock index gained 1.3 per cent to 7,094 points, its highest close this year, in heavy trade.   The petrochemicals sector, its profit margins most sensitive to oil, jumped 3.5 per cent and five petrochemical producers were among the 10 most heavily traded stocks.


The Qatar index climbed 1.2 per cent as petrochemicals company Industries Qatar added 3.7 per cent and oil drilling rig provider Gulf International Services surged by 7.7 per cent. Stock markets in Kuwait and Bahrain also rose. United Arab Emirates markets were closed on Thursday for a public holiday.


In Egypt, the index climbed 0.8 per cent as exchange data showed that foreigners remained net buyers by a margin of about $9 million.


They have been buyers every day since the Egyptian pound was floated on November 3.


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon