Muscat, June 27 (QNA) - The Muscat Stock Exchange main index registered a sharp decline last week, shedding approximately 265 points to close at 7,316 points, driven by a broad downturn across key sectoral indices.

The financial sector led the downward trend by dropping 287 points, while the services and industrial sectors declined by 74 points and 43 points, respectively. Concurrently, the Sharia index decreased by 16 points to finish the week at 584 points.

The widespread decline heavily impacted the total market capitalization of the bourse, which contracted to OMR 36.166 billion by the close of weekly trading, representing a total weekly market loss of OMR 537.6 million.

This downturn was mirrored in the negative market breadth, with the share prices of 54 companies declining, compared to just 24 gainers, while 16 equities remained unchanged.

Despite the downward movement in stock prices, market liquidity and trading activity saw a significant uptick.

The weekly trading value surged by 16.7 percent, reaching OMR 162.6 million compared to OMR 139.3 million in the preceding week. This increase in trading volume was supported by a 21.5 percent jump in the number of executed transactions, which exceeded 38,000 trades against approximately 31,000 transactions a week earlier.

The benchmark index has faced sustained pressure since mid-May, when it surrendered the psychological 8,000-point threshold. However, market analysts point to a potential trend reversal, suggesting that the bourse could soon resume its upward trajectory. 

This outlook is grounded in expectations of an easing in selling pressure, the anticipated reinjection of surplus liquidity from recent initial public offerings, and the upcoming release of preliminary financial results for the first half of the year. (QNA)