Muscat bourse surges ahead on buying support

Muscat: Shares on the Muscat Securities Market surged ahead further on the second day amid support from both retail and institutional investors. Shares were attractive at lower levels, which aided the recovery in the market.
Strong buying in telecommunication stocks lifted MSM 30 Index by 43.33 points to close at 5,047 points on Tuesday. The traded volumes also showed a marked growth with turnover touching OMR3.84 million amid 13.84 million shares changing hands.
The MSM Sharia Index gained 1 per cent to end at 738.21 points. Al Madina Takaful was the most active in terms of volume while Ooredoo led in terms of turnover. Vision Insurance, up by 8.11 per cent, was the top gainer in Sharia index while Bank Nizwa was the top loser, down by 1.08 per cent.
A total number of 914 trades were executed on Tuesday, generating turnover of OMR3.84 million with 13.8 million shares changing hands. Out of 41 traded securities, 19 advanced, 5 declined and 17 remained unchanged. Omani investors switched to net buyers of OMR313,000 followed by foreign investors for OMR27,000 while GCC and Arab investors were net sellers for OMR340,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index closed at 7,436.38 points, up by 0.19 per cent. United Finance, Gulf Investment Services, Vision Insurance, Al Madina Takaful and Al Sharqia Investments gained 8.11 per cent, 2.67 per cent, 2.67 per cent, 2 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively. Bank Nizwa and Al Anwar Holding lost 1.08 per cent and 0.65 per cent, respectively.
Industrial Index advanced 0.79 per cent to finish at 6,761.60 points. Al Anwar Ceramics, Oman Flour Mills, Galfar Engineering and Oman Fisheries gained 4.20 per cent, 1.91 per cent, 1.41 per cent and 0.98 per cent, respectively.
Services Index had strong gains of 0.94 per cent to end at 2,463.56 points. Oman Hotels & Tourism, Oman Telecommunications Company, Ooredoo, Phoenix Power and OIFC increased by 4.55 per cent, 4.17 per cent, 2.37 per cent, 1.67 per cent and 1.25 per cent, respectively. Oman National Engineering and Port Services declined 0.66 per cent and 0.56 per cent, respectively.