Oman shares end higher on strong buying by retail investors

Business Wednesday 20/September/2017 16:44 PM
By: Times News Service
Oman shares end higher on strong buying by retail investors

Muscat: A smart recovery was witnessed on the Muscat bourse after retail investors entered the market to purchase blue chip stocks.
Also, strong movement in telecom and banking stocks lifted the MSM30 Index by 0.90 per cent before closing at 5,042.28 points. The MSM Sharia Index gained 0.32 per cent to end at 741.53 points. Due to a special deal, Bank Sohar was the most active in terms of both volume and turnover. Galfar Engineering was the top gainer, up 6.02 per cent, while Oman Cables was top loser, down 4.78 per cent.
A total number of 870 trades were executed on Wednesday, generating turnover of OMR23.25 million with 139.47 million shares changing hands. Out of 38 traded securities, 15 advanced, 8 declined and 15 remained unchanged. Foreign Investors were net buyers for OMR21,000 followed by Omani Investors for OMR4,000 while GCC & Arab Investors were net sellers for OMR25,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index advanced 0.38 per cent to close at 7,371.30 points. Al Sharqia Investment, United Finance, Bank Sohar, Gulf Investment Services and Ahli Bank increased 5.88 per cent, 4.24 per cent, 2.65 per cent, 2.50 per cent and 1.23 per cent respectively. Al Madina Takaful, HSBC Bank, Vision Insurance, Muscat Finance and Al Anwar Holding lost 1.89 per cent, 1.75 per cent, 1.38 per cent, 0.87 per cent and 0.65 per cent respectively.
Industrial Index ended at 6,915.52 points, up 0.18 per cent. Galfar Engineering, Construction Materials, Al Anwar Ceramics and Gulf International Chemicals gained 6.02 per cent, 3.45 per cent, 2.48 per cent and 2.27 per cent respectively. Oman Cables and Al Maha Ceramics decreased 4.78 per cent and 0.67 per cent respectively.
Services Index rallied sharply to finish at 2,555.11 points, a gain of 1.34 per cent. Ooredoo, Renaissance Services, National Gas, Omantel and OIFC increased 5.94 per cent, 3.60 per cent, 2.11 per cent, 1.98 per cent and 1.86 per cent respectively. Port Services, down 0.98 per cent, was the sole sector loser.