Oman share index falls on sustained profit taking

Muscat: Sustained profit taking dragged down the MSM30 Index by 0.51 per cent to end the session at 5,948.56 points. The MSM Sharia Index closed at 887.32 points, up by 0.05 per cent. OIFC was the most active in terms of volume while Oman Cables led in terms of turnover. Wednesday’s top gainer was United Finance, up 2.19 per cent while Al Batinah Development was the top loser, down 8.41.
A total number of 938 trades were executed today, generating turnover of OMR3.5 million with 15.3 million shares changing hands. Out of 47 traded securities, eight advanced, 19 declined and 20 remained unchanged. At the session close, Omani Investors were net buyers for OMR306,000 while GCC & Arab investors were net sellers for OMR301,000 followed by Foreign Investors for OMR5,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index showed strong decline of 1.35 per cent to close at 7,663.07 points. United Finance and NBO gained 2.19 per cent and 1.16 per cent respectively. Al Batinah Development, Al Sharqia Investments, HSBC Bank, Oman & Emirates Holding and Al Anwar Holding declined 8.41 per cent, 6.96 per cent, 3.45 per cent, 3.29 per cent and 2.59 per cent respectively.
Industrial Index ended at 7,214.17 points, down 0.14 per cent. Al Jazeera Steel and Raysut Cement increased 1.57 per cent and 0.40 per cent respectively. National Aluminium, Galfar Engineering, Oman Fisheries and Al Hassan Engineering decreased 4.49 per cent, 1.71 per cent, 1.56 per cent and 1.04 per cent respectively.
Services Index retreated 0.52 per cent to finish at 3,300.49 points. OIFC, Phoenix Power, Port Services and Omantel advanced 1.96 per cent, 0.66 per cent, 0.39 per cent and 0.31 per cent respectively. National Gas, Renaissance Services and Al Jazeera Services declined 6.97 per cent, 4.03 per cent and 0.88 per cent respectively.