Muscat bourse plunges by 1.24% on weak financial results

Muscat: Share values on the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) plunged on weak third quarter results and risk aversion by investor community.
The MSM 30 index, the barometer of the market movement, fell by 1.24 per cent (or 69.96 points) to touch 5,581.11 points on Monday.
“The outlook is not positive. We do not have any additional triggers and the third quarter results (so far) were not positive,” said Suresh Kumar, head of research at Al Maha Financial Services.
There was a fall of 5 per cent in net profit of Omani banks in the second quarter. “However, there were no negative surprises as well,” added Suresh Kumar.
All other regional bourses were also down, led by Abu Dhabi and Qatar. In fact, investors have taken a back seat and are following a ‘wait and watch’ policy.
Another senior market analyst said that the market sentiment was weak after Bank Dhofar and Bank Sohar dropped their proposed merger on Sunday. Telecommunication stocks were also down after the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said that they will allow a third operator to enhance service quality and enhance competition. Further, the third quarter results were also not very promising, which is another reason for the fall.
“We see a range bound activity in the coming weeks, with a negative bias. Dividend buying will be seen only towards the end of the year,” added the market analyst.
The traded volumes were on the higher side on the Muscat bourse on Monday, as volumes touched 47.52 million shares with a turnover of OMR6.53 million. This was mainly due to a major block deal.
As many as 552 trades were executed on Monday, generating a turnover of OMR6.54 million with 47.5 million shares changing hands. Out of 38 traded securities, two advanced, 19 declined and 17 remained unchanged. Arab and GCC investors were net buyers to the tune of OMR3.83 million worth of shares, while Omani investors switched to net sellers at OMR3.72 million followed by foreign investors, who sold stocks amounting to OMR109,000.
The major losers were Bank Sohar, Oman Investment and Finance, Bank Nizwa, Al Anwar Ceramic Tiles, Galfar Engineering and Al Jazeera Services.