Poor corporate results pull down Oman's share index

Muscat: Local trading dominated Sunday’s trading session with investors reacting to results announcements. The MSM30 Index closed at 5,744.05 points, down by 0.32 per cent. The MSM Sharia Index declined by 0.40 per cent to close at 864.36 points. Oman & Emirates Holding was the most active in terms of volume, while Al Jazeera Steel led in terms of turnover. The top gainer was Oman Fisheries, up by 10 per cent, while Al Anwar Ceramics was the top loser, down by 7.22 per cent.
A total number of 844 trades were executed on Sunday, generating turnover of OMR2.88 million with 15.77 million shares changing hands. Out of 40 traded securities, 13 advanced, 10 declined and 17 remained unchanged. Foreign investors were net buyers for OMR51,000 while GCC and Arab investors switched to net sellers for OMR44,000 followed by Omani investors for OMR7,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index ended at 7,859.98 points, down by 0.16 per cent. National Finance, Al Madina Takaful, Oman & Emirates Holding, Al Madina Investments and Al Batinah Investment Holding gained 6.87 per cent, 6.85 per cent, 5.07 per cent, 3.64 per cent and 3.13 per cent, respectively. HSBC Bank Oman, NBO and Bank Sohar lost 2.31 per cent, 1.23 per cent and 0.62 per cent, respectively.
Industrial Index retreated 0.17 per cent to close at 7,461.95 points. Oman Fisheries, Al Jazeera Steel, Construction Materials and Voltamp Energy increased by 10 per cent, 5.10 per cent, 3.33 per cent and 1.63 per cent, respectively. Al Anwar Ceramics, Galfar Engineering, Gulf International Chemicals and Al Maha Ceramics declined by 7.22 per cent, 2.33 per cent, 1.02 per cent and 0.80 per cent, respectively.
Services Index was stable at 2,993.62 points with marginal gain of 0.02 per cent. OIFC and Renaissance Services gained 1.46 per cent and 0.99 per cent, respectively. Phoenix Power, Al Batinah Power and United Power declined by 0.68 per cent, 0.56 per cent and 0.15 per cent, respectively.