Selling pressure in bank stocks pull down Muscat bourse

Muscat: Weakness in banking and telecom stocks weighed on the MSM30 Index, which ended at 5,510.04 points, down by 0.34 per cent. The MSM Sharia Index lost 0.13 per cent to close at 802.37 points. Al Madina Takaful was the most active regarding volume while Oman Fisheries led in terms of turnover. Oman & Emirates Holding, up by 8.59 per cent, was the today’s top gainer while the top loser was Oman Refreshment with a loss of 4.63 per cent.
As many as1,139 trades were executed on Tuesday, generating a turnover of OMR3.88 million with 20.72 million shares changing hands. Out of 43 traded securities, 21 advanced, 12 declined, and 10 remained unchanged. Foreign investors stayed net buyers of OMR107,000 followed by GCC and Arab investors for OMR54,000 while Omani investors switched to net sellers of OMR161,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index retreated 0.16 per cent to end at 8,099.54 points. Oman & Emirates Holding, Al Sharqia Investments, Al Batinah Investment, Global Financial Investment and Taageer Finance increased by 8.59 per cent, 6.03 per cent, 5.68 per cent, 3.75 per cent and 3.64 per cent, respectively. Oman United Insurance, National Bank of Oman, Bank Sohar and BankDhofar declined by 2.63 per cent, 2.17 per cent, 2 per cent and 1.74 per cent, respectively.
Industrial Index closed at 7,549.14 points with strong gain of 0.95 per cent. Oman Fisheries, Galfar Engineering, Al Jazeera Steel, Construction Materials and Al Maha Ceramics gained 7.09 per cent, 3.80 per cent, 3.46 per cent, 3.45 per cent and 1.57 per cent, respectively. Oman Refreshment, Oman Cement, National Aluminium and Oman Flour Mills declined by 4.63 per cent, 2.17 per cent, 0.62 per cent and 0.43 per cent, respectively.
Services Index was stable at 2,820.20 points, up by 0.10 per cent. Renaissance Services, Al Jazeera Services and Sembcorp Salalah gained 3.30 per cent, 3.13 per cent and 1.21 per cent, respectively. Phoenix Power, Oman Telecommunications Company, Port Services and Ooredoo declined by 1.47 per cent, 1.13 per cent, 0.44 per cent and 0.39 per cent, respectively.