Oman shares end lower on profit-booking

Muscat: The MSM30 Index closed marginally lower at 4,973.79 points, down 0.08 per cent. The MSM Sharia Index shed 0.47 per cent to close at 706.28 points. Bank Muscat was the most active in terms of volume as well as turnover. The top gainer was Al Hassan Engineering, up 17.86 per cent, while Ooredoo, down 2.00 per cent was the day’s top loser.
A total number of 635 trades were executed on Wednesday, generating a turnover of OMR4.81 million with 17.47 million shares changing hands. Out of 40 traded securities, 11 advanced, 10 declined, and 19 remained unchanged. At the session close, Omani Investors were net buyers for OMR2.70 million while Foreign Investors switched to net sellers for OMR2.27 million followed by GCC & Arab Investors for OMR430,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index closed at 7,353.62 points, up 0.14 per cent. NBO, Ahli Bank, Al Ahlia Insurance and Taageer Finance gained 2.48 per cent, 2.47 per cent, 1.82 per cent and 0.82 per cent respectively. Bank Muscat, Al Izz Bank, Bank Nizwa, Bank Sohar and Al Anwar Holding decreased 1.53 per cent, 1.35 per cent, 1.10 per cent, 0.66 per cent and 0.66 per cent respectively.
Industrial Index advanced 0.58 per cent to finish at 6,701.13 points. Al Hassan Engineering, Al Jazeera Steel, National Aluminium and Galfar Engineering increased 17.86 per cent, 4.14 per cent, 3.23 per cent and 2.70 per cent respectively. Oman Fisheries, down 0.73 per cent, was the only loser.
Services Index ended at 2,604.72 points, down 0.45 per cent. Al Jazeera Services and MCDE increased 1.23 per cent and 0.62 per cent respectively. Ooredoo, Shell Oman, Renaissance Services and Omantel decreased 2.00 per cent, 1.69 per cent, 0.65 per cent and 0.44 per cent respectively.