Stocks on Muscat bourse slide

Muscat: Shares on the Muscat bourse followed declining regional trend as oil prices held near three-month low, with oversupply concerns threatening further decline. The benchmark MSM30 index witnessed marginal decline of 0.08 per cent before closing at 5856.28 points. The MSM Sharia Index closed at 890.38 points, down by 0.24 per cent.
Bank Nizwa was the most active stock in terms of volume while Bank Muscat was the most active in terms of turnover. Tuesday’s top gainer was Global Financial Investment, which ended up by 2.65 per cent while the top loser was Muscat Gases with a loss of 9.94 per cent.
As many as 653 trades were executed on Tuesday, generating a turnover of OMR2.56 million with 10.13 million shares changing hands. Out of 46 traded securities, 17 declined, 6 advanced, and 23 remained unchanged. Arab and GCC investors were net buyers to the tune of OMR253,000 worth of shares followed by Omani investors at OMR58,000. Foreign investors, who were net sellers, sod shares amounting to 311,000.
Financial Index closed at 7,513.88 points, down by 0.17 per cent. Prices of Global Financial Investment, Oman United Insurance, and Bank Muscat increased by 2.65 per cent, 1.71 per cent, and 0.52 per cent respectively. Al Batinah Development, Oman & Emirates Investment Holding, National Bank of Oman, Bank Sohar, and Al Sharqia investments declined by 4.21 per cent, 1.43 per cent, 1.17 per cent, 1.09 per cent, and 0.70 per cent respectively.
Industrial Sector Index declined by 0.07 per cent and closed at 7499.95 points. Al Maha Ceramics was only gainer from Industrial sector stocks and closed at OMR0.480, up by 1.27 per cent. Prices of Al Hassan Engineering, Oman refreshments, Al Jazeera Steels, Gulf International Chemicals, and Oman Cables declined by 3.75 per cent, 2.27 per cent, 1.49 per cent, 0.79 per cent, and 0.28 per cent respectively.
Services sector Index was flat at 3,201.10 points. Prices of Al Batinah Power and Port Services Corporation gained by 2.09 per cent and 0.43 per cent respectively. Muscat Gases, Sharqiya Desalination, Al jazeira Services, Phoenix Power, and National Gas declined by 9.94 per cent, 4.26 per cent, 1.46 per cent, 0.65 per cent, and 0.65 respectively.