Muscat bourse edges down

Muscat: Shares on the Muscat bourse edged down with the general index falling by 7.69 points to close at 4,999.96 points.
The total market turnover stood at OMR5.47 million, a growth of 85.1 per cent over the previous session. As many as 33.84 million shares changed hand on Wednesday.
The dividend announcements are driving the market. It is generally expected that more companies will announce dividend payouts in the coming weeks. As of now, around ten companies have announced their dividend recommendations, which will be paid sometime in March.
The major gainers included Renaissance Services, Gulf Investment Services, Oman and Emirates Investment Holding, Oman Fisheries and Galfar Engineering and Contracting.
Also, the major losers were HSBC Bank Oman, Sembcorp Salalah, Ominvest, Ahli Bank and Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel).
Phoenix Power was the leading company in terms of volume, while BankDhofar topped in terms of market turnover. The market value declined by 0.011 per cent to OMR17.85 billion.
An MSM report said that the value of shares bought by non-Omani investors touched OMR464,000, comprising 8.48 per cent of total volume. The value of shares sold by non-Omani investors reached OMR794,000 comprising 14.51 per cent. The net non-Omani investment declined by 6.03 per cent to OMR330,000.
A total number of 1,129 trades were executed on Wednesday, generating turnover of OMR5.47 million with 33.84 million shares changing hands. Out of 39 traded securities, 21 advanced, 5 declined and 13 remained unchanged. Omani investors were net buyers for OMR2 million while foreign investors were net sellers for OMR1.1 million followed by GCC and Arab investors for OMR880,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index was stable at 7375.74 points, down by 0.11 per cent. Gulf Investment Services, Oman & Emirates , BankDhofar and National Life & General Insurance increased by 6.49 per cent, 6.45 per cent, 3.37 per cent and 2.56 per cent, respectively. HSBC Bank Oman, Ominvest and Ahli Bank declined by 9.09 per cent, 1.89 per cent and 0.60 per cent, respectively.
Industrial Index gained 0.85 per cent to close at 6781.55 points. Oman Fisheries, Galfar Engineering and Al Anwar Ceramics increased by 5.34 per cent, 4 per cent and 2.34 per cent, respectively.
Services Index marginally gained by 0.32 per cent to end at 2619.63 points. Renaissance Services, National Gas, Al Jazeira Services and OIFC increased by 8.75, 1.36 per cent, 1.23 per cent and 0.78 per cent, respectively. Sembcorp Salalah and Omantel declined by 6.67 per cent and 0.44 per cent, respectively.