Oman’s share index ends lower

Muscat: Selling pressure from foreign investors kept MSM stocks in the negative territory. The benchmark MSM30 Index closed at 4,497.64 points, down by 0.13 per cent. MSM Sharia index closed at 614.92 points, a marginal gain of 0.07 per cent. Phoenix Power was the most active in terms of volume while Bank Muscat was the most active in terms of turnover. Muscat finance, up 2.44 per cent, was the top gainer, and the top loser of the day, OMINVEST, was down by 3.80 per cent.
A total number of 490 trades were executed during the day's trading session generating turnover of OMR2.17 million with 14.39 million shares changing hands. Out of 32 traded stocks, 6 advanced, 6 declined and 20 remained unchanged. At the session close, foreign investors were net sellers for OMR344,000 followed by domestic investors for OMR232,000 while GCC and Arab investors were net buyers for OMR576,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index closed down by 0.29 per cent at 7,015.83 points. Gulf investment services, Al Sharqiya Investments, Al Madina Takaful, Al Anwar Holding, and Muscat Finance were down by 5.06 per cent, 3.19 per cent, 2.00 per cent, 1.96 per cent, and 1.20 per cent respectively. Muscat Finance, Al Madina Takaful, Bank Muscat, and HSBC Bank Oman were up by 2.44 per cent, 1.02 per cent, 0.92 per cent, and 0.85 per cent respectively. OMINVEST and Bank Sohar closed lower by 3.80 per cent, and 2.52 per cent respectively.
Industrial Index was up 0.01 per cent at 5,289.93 points. Construction Materials went down by 3.45 per cent and closed at 28 baiza.
Services Sector Index closed lower by 0.06 per cent at 2,358.20 points. Omantel and Ooredoo were up by 0.47 per cent and 0.33 per cent respectively. Al Suwadi Power, Sohar Power, and Al Batinah Power were down by 1.82 per cent, 1.63 per cent, and 0.91 per cent respectively.