Marginal recovery on Muscat bourse

Muscat: Shares on the Muscat bourse marginally recovered. The MSM30 Index ended little changed at 5,623.56 points. The MSM Sharia Index closed at 841.10 points, down by 0.25 per cent. Al Madina Investment was the most active in terms of volume, while Bank Muscat was the most active in terms of turnover. The top gainer was Al Hassan Engineering, up by 3.92 per cent, while the top loser was Oman Fisheries, down by 5.49 per cent.
As many as1,067 trades were executed on Wednesday, generating turnover of OMR4.52 million with 23.7 million shares changing hands. Out of 43 traded securities, 10 advanced, 13 declined and 20 remained unchanged. GCC and Arab investors were net buyers of OMR297,000 followed by Omani investors to the tune of OMR288,000 while foreign investors remained net sellers of OMR585,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index gained 0.20 per cent to close at 8,083.77 points. Bank Muscat, Ominvest, Oman & Emirates Holding and Al Anwar Holding gained by 1.99 per cent, 1.62 per cent, 1.57 per cent and 0.93 per cent, respectively. Dhofar Investment, Al Madina Investments, Taageer Finance, Al Sharqia Investments and Al Batinah Investment declined by 4.46 per cent, 2.67 per cent, 1.67 per cent, 1.60 per cent and 1.05 per cent, respectively.
Industrial Index ended at 7,752.94 points, down by 0.38 per cent. Al Hassan Engineering, Al Anwar Ceramics and Raysut Cement gained 3.92 per cent, 3.09 per cent and 0.37 per cent, respectively. Oman Fisheries, Galfar Engineering and National Aluminium lost 5.49 per cent, 3.45 per cent and 2.29 per cent, respectively.
Services Index declined by 0.23 per cent to end at 2,872.54 points. Phoenix Power, Renaissance Services and Port Services gained 1.42 per cent, 0.45 per cent and 0.43 per cent, respectively. Ooredoo, Oman Telecommunications Company and Al Jazeera Services declined by 2.55 per cent, 1.44 per cent and 1.12 per cent, respectively.
Sensex tops 30,000
Mumbai: The benchmark indices extended their all-time closing highs ahead of the RBI’s monetary policy review meeting that commenced on Wednesday.
The key indices dipped into the negative territory for a brief period at the start of the session and recovered sharply to end at the day with significant gains. In a couple of instances the Sensex crossed the 30,000 mark in the session. By the close of Wednesday’s session, the Nifty advanced 27.30 points or 0.30 per cent to close at 9,265.15. The index traded between 9,215.40 - 9,273.90.
Anupam Singhi, COO of William O’Neil India said," The Sensex continued to grow higher in today’s session as it extended gains by 64.02 points or 0.21 per cent and closed at 29,974.24. The day’s range observed was 29,817.69 - 30,007.48. The Sensex had last touched 30,024.74 on March 4, 2015.”
Investors remained on the sidelines awaiting the outcome of Monetary Policy Committee’s first bimonthly policy review meeting for FY 2018. The committee will announce its targets for FY 2018 and its decision on the interest rate on Thursday post its two day meeting that commenced today.
Overseas, European and Asian stocks were mostly higher. US stock markets closed with small gains yesterday ahead of a key meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday and Friday.
Key Asian indices like China, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan rose by 0.27 per cent to 1.48 per cent while Singpaore and South Korea moved down by 0.01 per cent to 0.08 per cent.
Key European indices like France and UK moved up by 0.06 per cent to 0.11 per cent while Germany's DAX was quoted lower by 0.47 per cent.
Turning the local market, 18 scrips out of the 30-share sensex ended higher while 12 scrips closed lower.
The market breadth remained positive as 1,987 stocks ended higher, 936 declined, while 149 ruled unchanged.