Heavy selling pulls down Muscat bourse

Muscat: Heavy selling in banking and telecom stocks pushed the MSM 30 Index down 1.71 per cent to 5,199.09 points, its lowest close since April 2009. The MSM Shariah index closed at 838.96 points, down 0.75 per cent,
Bank Muscat was the most active in terms of volume, while Ooredoo Oman led in terms of turnover. The top gainer was Al Jazeera Steel, up 5.84 per cent, while the top loser was Bank Sohar with a loss of 5.84 per cent.
As many as 653 trades were executed on Wednesday, generating a turnover of OMR4.45 million with 12.9 million shares changing hands. Out of 38 traded securities, five advanced, 12 declined and 21 remained unchanged. Omani investors were net buyers to the tune of OMR697,000 worth of shares, while foreign investors remained net sellers at OMR657,000 followed by GCC and Arab investors, who sold shares amounting to OMR39,000.
Financial Index retreated 1.18 per cent to close at 6,215.81 points. BankDhofar and Ominvest gained 2.86 per cent and 0.92 per cent, respectively. Bank Sohar, National Bank of Oman, Bank Muscat and Al Madina Takaful declined by 5.84 per cent, 5.38 per cent, 3.64 per cent and 1.32 per cent, respectively.
Industrial Index remained stable at 6.662.62 points, up 0.03 per cent. Al Jazeera Steel gained by 5.84 per cent while Al Anwar Ceramics declined by 1.32 per cent.
Services Index was down heavily by 1.51 per cent to close below 3,000 points at 2,969.96 points. Al Jazeera Services and Al Batinah Power advanced by 0.67 per cent and 0.52 per cent, respectively. Al Maha Petroleum, Renaissance Services, Oman Telecommunications Company, Ooredoo Oman and Phoenix Power declined by 4.97 per cent, 4.35 per cent, 3.23 per cent, 2.92 per cent and 2.10 per cent, respectively.