Despite foreign selling Oman shares remain stable

Muscat: Despite foreign selling in Bank Muscat and HSBC Bank, the MSM30 Index remained stable at 5,616.75 points, up 0.12 per cent. The MSM Sharia Index finished at 850.72 points, down 0.20 per cent. Bank Nizwa was the most active in terms of volume while Omantel led in terms of turnover. The top gainer was Al Batinah Development, up 2.17 per cent, while Al Madina Investment was top loser, down 5.45 per cent.
A total number of 644 trades were executed on Monday, generating turnover of OMR2.65 million with 13.5 million shares changing hands. Out of 10 traded securities, 10 advanced, 11 declined and 23 remained unchanged. At the session close, Omani Investors were net buyers for OMR266,000 followed by GCC & Arab Investors for OMR13,000 while Foreign Investors switched to net buyers for OMR279,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index had marginal gain of 0.05 per cent to end at 7,461.31 points. Al Batinah Development, Bank Sohar, Al Sharqia Investment and Oman United Insurance increased 2.17 per cent, 2.04 per cent, 1.42 per cent and 0.62 per cent respectively. Al Madina Investment, Takaful Oman, Al Anwar Holding and Bank Muscat declined 5.45 per cent, 2.69 per cent, 0.54 per cent and 0.45 per cent respectively.
Industrial Index retreated 0.32 per cent to close at 7,263.03 points. Al Jazeera Steel, Gulf International Chemicals and Voltamp Energy gained 1.29 per cent, 0.75 per cent and 0.43 per cent respectively. Raysut Cement, Al Anwar Ceramics, Al Hassan Engineering and Oman Fisheries declined 1.96 per cent, 1.70 per cent, 1.67 per cent and 1.61 per cent respectively.
Services Index ended at 3,016.51 points with gain of 0.33 per cent. Phoenix Power, Renaissance Services and Omantel gained 2.13 per cent, 1.77 per cent and 1.36 per cent respectively. National Gas, Port Services and Ooredoo declined 1.68 per cent, 1.26 per cent and 0.65 per cent respectively.