Muscat bourse recovers on buying support

Muscat: Shares on the Muscat bourse recovered amid better investor sentiment on Wednesday. The MSM30 Index advanced by 0.80 per cent to close at 5,510.18 points. The MSM Sharia Index closed at 801.51 points, up by 0.45 per cent. Bank Sohar was the most active regarding volume while Bank Muscat was the most active in terms of turnover. With a gain of 5.83 per cent, Al Jazeera Steel was the top gainer while Construction Materials was the top loser, down by 6.67 per cent.
As many as 1,036 trades were executed on Wednesday, generating a turnover of OMR3.56 million with 15.5 million shares changing hands. Out of 37 traded securities, 17 advanced, 2 declined, and 18 remained unchanged. Omani investors were net buyers of OMR335,000 while foreign investors were net sellers to the tune of OMR335,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index had strong gain of 0.90 per cent to close at 8,062.05 points. Oman & Emirates, Bank Sohar, National Bank of Oman, Bank Nizwa and Al Madina Takaful increased by 3.57 per cent, 3.45 per cent, 1.78 per cent, 1.08 per cent and 1.04 per cent, respectively.
Industrial Index closed at 7,466.23 points, a gain of 0.78 per cent. Al Jazeera Steel, Oman Fisheries and Al Anwar Ceramics were up by 5.83 per cent, 5.30 per cent and 2.11 per cent, respectively. Construction Materials and Al Maha Ceramics declined by 6.67 per cent and 0.50 per cent, respectively.
Services Index gained 0.66 per cent to close at 2,821.98 points. Phoenix Power, Sembcorp Salalah, Al Jazeera Services, Ooredoo and Oman Telecommunications Company gained 2.96 per cent, 1.67 per cent, 1.27 per cent, 1.18 per cent and 0.77 per cent, respectively.
Indian market surges ahead
India’s benchmark sensex closed above the 30,000-mark for the first time on Wednesday, while the Nifty too finished at a record high on sustained buying amid positive global cues. The BSE 30-share Sensex opened on a strong footing and surged to a lifetime high of 30,167.09 points in intra-day trade, before settling at 30,133.35, up 190.11 points, or 0.63 per cent. This surpassed its previous record close of 29,974.24, reached on April 5. The gauge had hit its previous intra-day high of 30,024.74 on March 4, 2015.
Similarly, the broader 50-issue NSE Nifty scaled a new peak of 9,367 before finally ending 45.25 points, or 0.49 per cent higher at 9,351.85, a new record closing. It surpassed its previous record closing of 9,306.60 hit in yesterday's trade.