Oman shares decline on heavy selling pressure

Muscat: Muscat bourse edged down on selling pressure. The MSM30 Index witnessed dull trading volumes to close at 5,430.41 points, down 0.12 per cent. MSM Sharia Index closed at 838.19 points, down 0.10 per cent. Galfar Engineering was the most active in terms of volume while Omantel led in terms of turnover. Renaissance Services was Tuesday’s top gainer, up 6.34 per cent while Al Hassan Engineering was the top loser, with a loss of 2.86 per cent.
As many as 765 trades were executed on Tuesday, generating turnover of OMR2.25 million with 12.67 million shares changing hands. Out of 41 traded securities, 10 advanced, 13 declined and 18 remained unchanged. Omani Investors were net buyers for OMR149,000 followed by GCC & Arab Investors OMR35,000 while Foreign Investors remained as net sellers for OMR184,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index retreated 0.25 per cent to close at 6,745.53 points. Al Sharqia Investments, Al Madina Investments and Oman United Insurance increased 1.90 per cent, 1.64 per cent and 0.42 per cent respectively. Gulf Investment Services, Al Izz Bank, DIDIC, NBO and Bank Muscat declined 2.08 per cent, 1.69 per cent, 1.55 per cent, 1.46 per cent and 0.91 per cent respectively.
Industrial Index stayed flat at 6,640.24 points, up 0.01 per cent. Al Maha Ceramics, Al Jazeera Steel, Galfar Engineering and Oman Textiles gained 2.44 per cent, 2.05 per cent, 1.61 per cent and 0.52 per cent respectively. Al Hassan Engineering, Raysut Cement and Gulf International Chemicals declined 2.86 per cent, 2.44 per cent and 0.66 per cent respectively.
Services Index ended positively at 3,015.43 point, up 0.48 per cent. Renaissance Services, Al Jazeera Services and Omantel increased 6.34 per cent, 3.93 per cent and 0.96 per cent respectively. National Gas, OIFC and Sembcorp Salalah declined 1.29 per cent, 0.50 per cent and 0.20 per cent respectively.