Oman shares gain on active foreign buying

Muscat: Supported by active foreign buying, Oman stocks edged higher on Tuesday after Monday’s correction. The benchmark MSM30 index gained 0.48 per cent to close at 5,048.40 points. The MSM Sharia Index also gained 0.18 per cent to close at 742.74 points. United Finance was the leader in terms of volume while Bank Muscat was most active in terms of turnover. Gulf Investment Services, which closed higher by 3.90 per cent, was the top gainer while the top loser Oman Education & Training Company lost 1.88 per cent from Monday's close.
During the session, a total of 447 trades were executed, generating turnover of OMR3.1 million with more than 12.7 million shares changing hands. Out of 39 traded securities, 11 advanced, 4 declined, and 25 remained unchanged. At the session close, GCC & Arab investors were net buyers for OMR594,000 worth of shares followed by foreign investors for OMR348,000 while Omani investors were net sellers for OMR942,000 worth of shares.
Financial index gained by 0.82 per cent on Tuesday and closed at 7,591.61 points. Bank Muscat was the only gainer from the financial sector,and closed higher by 0.54 per cent at OMR0.374. Prices of National bank of Oman, Sharqiya Investments, Muscat Finance, Al Madina Investment, and Al Anwar Holding declined by 2.36 per cent, 1.89 per cent, 1.69 per cent, 1.49 per cent, and 1.38 per cent respectively.
Industrial Index closed at 6,809.65 points with gains of 0.25 per cent. Al Jazeera Steel which closed at OMR0.244, up 0.83 per cent, as the only gainer from the sector. Raysut Cement, and Oman Fisheries declined by 6.64 per cent, and 0.78 per cent respectively.
Services Sector Index had a marginal decline of 0.01 per cent before closing at 2,502.07 points. National Gas and Phoenix Power went up by 1.33 per cent and 0.85 per cent respectively. Ooredoo, Oman National Engineering, Port Services, and Omantel declined by 2.27 per cent, 1.92 per cent, 1.47 per cent, and 0.44 per cent respectively.