Oman's share index ends marginally lower

Muscat: The MSM index closed at 3,622.40 points, down 0.04 per cent from the previous close. The Sharia Index ended up 0.09 per cent at 517.30 points. Omantel, up 1.25 per cent was the top gainer while National Aluminium, down 3.37 per cent, was the top loser. Shares of Bank Muscat were the most active in terms of the number of shares traded and also were the most active in terms of turnover.

A total number of 442 trades were executed during the day's trading session, generating a turnover of OMR3.0 million, with more than 9.6 million shares changing hands. Out of 38 traded stocks, 7 advanced, 5 declined and 26 remained unchanged. At the session close, foreign investors were net sellers for OMR144,000 while GCC and Arab were net buyers for OMR79,000 followed by local investors for OMR65,000 worth of shares.

Financial Index closed at 5,704.02 points, down by 0.09 per cent. HSBC Bank Oman and Ominvest were up by 1.09 per cent, and 0.59 per cent respectively. Gulf Investment and Sohar International Bank were down by 2.90 per cent and 2.02 per cent respectively.

Industrial Index closed at 4,020.22 points, down 0.21 per cent. Al Maha Ceramics and Al Anwar Ceramic were up by 0.48 per cent and 0.48 per cent respectively. National Aluminium and Raysut Cement were down by 3.37 per cent and 3.23 per cent respectively.

Services index was up by 0.15 per cent before closing at 1,596.00 points. Omantel, Al Jazeera Service and National Gas were up by 1.25 per cent, 1.00 per cent and 0.66 per cent respectively. Renaissance Service was down by 0.60 per cent.