Oman's shares fall on selling pressure

Muscat: Continued selling pressure in banking and services stocks resulted in the MSM30 index closing at 4,179.08 points, down by 0.56 per cent. This is the lowest index closing level since April 2005. MSM Sharia Index closed at 577.06 points, down by 0.79 per cent. Ahli Bank was the most active in terms of volume while Shell Oman Marketing was the most active in terms of turnover. The top gainer was Al Madina Investment which closed higher by 3.23 per cent while the top loser was Shell Oman Marketing which closed lower by 6.14 per cent.
A total number of 286 trades were executed during the day's trading session generating turnover of OMR2.01 million with more than 8.58 million shares changing hands. Out of 33 traded stocks, 3 advanced, 16 declined and 14 remained unchanged. At the session close, foreign investors were net buyers for OMR128,000, followed by Omani investors for RO 23K while GCC and Arab investors were net sellers for OMR151,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index lost 0.54 per cent to at 6,733.18 points. Al Madina Investment was up 3.23 per cent. Al Sharqia Investment Holding, Gulf Invest Services Holding, Bank Sohar, Bank Nizwa and Bank Dhofar were down by 3.53 per cent, 3.28 per cent, 2.5 per cent, 1.12 per cent and 0.63 per cent respectively.
Industrial Index lost 0.36 per cent to close at 4,930.24 points. Oman Chlorine was up 1.28 per cent. Al Anwar Ceramic Tiles, Galfar Engineering, and Almaha Ceramics were down by 2.5 per cent, 1.28 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively.
Services Index lost 0.87 per cent to close at 2,165.09 points. Ooredoo was up 1.13 per cent. Shell Oman Marketing, United Power, OIFC, Al Batinah Power and Al Suwadi Power were down by 6.14 per cent, 3.93 per cent, 2.44 per cent, 1.02 per cent and 1.02 per cent respectively.