Sell-off in industrial stocks drags Oman shares lower

A sell-off in industrial stocks weighed on the overall market sentiment and the MSM30 Index closed at 5,660.16 points, down 0.66 per cent. The MSM Sharia Index declined 0.73 per cent to end at 844.03 points. Ooredoo was the most active in terms of volume while Shell Oman Marketing was the most active in terms of turnover. Up 0.50 per cent, the top gainer was Shell Oman Marketing, while National Securities was the top loser, down 48.98 per cent.

A total number of 857 trades were executed on Wednesday, generating turnover of OMR4.91 million with 13.8 million shares changing hands. Out of 47 traded securities, 3 advanced, 31 declined and 13 remained unchanged. Omani investors remained net buyers for OMR606,000 while foreign investors were net sellers for OMR478,000 followed by GCC & Arab investors for OMR128,000 worth of shares. 

Financial Index ended negatively at 7,983.88 points, down 0.51 per cent. National Securities, United Finance, Al Batinah Development, Al Madina Takaful and Al Madina Investments declined 5.93 per cent, 2.27 per cent, 1.41 per cent, 1.10 per cent and 0.98 per cent respectively.

Industrial Index had strong loss of 1.71 per cent to close at 7,865.17 points. Oman Cables, up 0.31 per cent, was the sole sector gainer. Al Anwar Ceramics, Raysut Cement, Construction Materials and Galfar Engineering decreased 3.23 per cent, 2.27 per cent, 2.11 per cent and 1.52 per cent respectively.

Services Index retreated 0.37 per cent to finish at 2,981.81 points. Shell Oman Marketing and OIFC gained 0.50 per cent and 0.45 per cent respectively. Al Batinah Power, Sembcorp Salalah, Al Jazeera Services, Al Suwadi Power and Omantel lost 2.56 per cent, 1.22 per cent, 1.04 per cent, 1.03 per cent and 0.74 per cent respectively.

Source : Times Of Oman