MSM index posts growth for second consecutive week

Muscat: The index of Muscat Securities Market (MSM) gained 10 points and closed at 3,525 points last week, maintaining a rising trend for the second week in a row.
The stock market benefited from a vested interest in purchasing shown by local and GCC investment funds. Accordingly, purchases of local investment establishments garnered 49.4 per cent of the value of trading as against 47 per cent of sales. GCC investment establishments’ purchases constituted 12 per cent of total trading, against 9 per cent of trading sales.
The financial sector reflected investors’ keenness on the purchase, rising by 27 points and figuring among the highest indices of the stock market, while the industry sector registered the highest rate of shrinking after losing 22 points. The services sector’s activity also receded by 10 points, followed by Sharia market index, which lost 3 points.
During last week, MSM experienced active engagement, with the value of trading rising by 14.6 per cent to OMR5.5 million as against OMR4.8 million in the week before. However, the number of executed deals decreased by 67 to 1,767 deals.
The market value of firms listed on MSM by the end of last week increased by OMR34.4 million to OMR18.4 billion (18 billion, 434 million and 700,000).
Oman Finance Services led the group of most traded companies, in terms of trading value, and the value of its shares stood at OMR831,000 that constituted 15 per cent of the total value of trading, followed by Al Anwar Ceramics (OMR679,000) and Bank Muscat (OMR592,000).
Last week, the prices of 20 companies went up, while the prices of 22 firms went down and 28 firms’ prices remained unchanged.
Al Madina Investment share topped the list of most winning shares, rising by 9 per cent to 28 baisas, followed by United Energy’s share which increased by 4.8 per cent to close at OMR1.2, and Alizz Islamic Bank’s share, which rose by 7.4 per cent and closed at 66 baisas in Thursday’s trading.
Al Hassan Engineering’s share suffered the highest loss, retreating by 11.7 per cent and closing at 15 baisas. The share of Galfar Engineering lost 10 per cent of its flare and closed at 45 baisas, followed in the downward trend by United Finance’s share, which lost 10 per cent and closed at 63 baisas.