Oman's stock market hits 3 week high

Oman's stock market rose to a three week-high on Wednesday after the completion of a share-sale in the first Islamic Bank in the country revived investor appetite for equities.The Muscat Securities Market 30 Index rose 1 per cent, to 5753.97, the highest since May 8. Nizwa Bank was selling 600 million shares to raise US$158.9 million from investors last month. Its initial public offering (IPO) was 11 times oversubscribed, according to the results revealed on Saturday, generating $1.77 billion of bids from investors. "The stock-market trend in Oman is looking good," said Tariq Qaqish, the deputy head of asset management at Al Mal Capital in Dubai. "The success of the Nizwa Bank IPO is creating a positive momentum in the market and oversubscription is an indication that investors still have liquidity cushions that can be invested back in the market." Renaissance Services, the oil and gas services company, added 1.1 per cent to 0.53 Omani rials. Gulf International Chemicals jumped 3.1 per cent to 0.17 rials. "The bringing in of new companies will bring more diversification for portfolio managers and investors," said Mr Qaqish. Stocks moved little on bourses in the Emirates. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index was down 0.08 per cent to 2453.44 points this morning. The Dubai Financial Market General Index lost 0.01 per cent to 1474.87 points Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait's measure rose 0.1 per cent to 6218.20 points. Bahrain's index gained 0.1 per cent to 1141.77 points. Qatar's QE Index was little change to 8478.00 points. The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index lost  0.3 per cent to 7033.11 points.