Heavy selling in banking shares drag Oman index lower

Dividend adjustment in National Bank of Oman (NBO) along with foreign selling in banking stocks dragged down the MSM30 Index by 0.89 per cent before closing at 5,603.80 points. The MSM Sharia Index closed at 844.38 points, down 0.22 per cent. Bank Muscat was the most active in terms of volume as well as turnover. Oman Education & Training, up 4.51 per cent was the only gainer while Muscat Thread Mills was the top loser, down 9.78 per cent.

A total number of 760 trades were executed on Monday, generating turnover of OMR3.72 million with 14.6 million shares changing hands. Out of 40 traded securities, one advanced, 20 declined and 19 remained unchanged. At the session close, GCC & Arab investors remained net buyers for OMR881,000 followed by Omani investors for OMR181,000 while Foreign investors were net sellers for OMR1.06 million worth of shares. 

Financial Index had sharp loss of 1.36 per cent to end at 7,908.62 points. NBO, Gulf Investment Services, Al Madina Takaful, Al Sharqia Investment and HSBC Bank declined 7.50 per cent, 2.65 per cent, 2.15 per cent, 1.71 per cent and 1.56 per cent respectively.

Industrial Index retreated 0.75 per cent to finish the session at 7,809.68 points. Muscat Thread Mills, Gulf International Chemicals, Al Jazeera Steel, Galfar Engineering and Al Anwar Ceramics declined 9.78 per cent, 9.62 per cent, 4.15 per cent, 2.38 per cent and 1.92 per cent respectively.

Services Index ended at 2,930.81 points, down 0.21 per cent. Oman Education & Training, up 4.51 per cent was the only gainer. Port Services, Phoenix Power, OIFC and Omantel decreased 2.03 per cent, 1.40 per cent, 1.29 per cent and 0.35 per cent respectively.

Sensex declines

Market gave a poor account of itself as the Sensex tumbled over 184 points on Monday to end at 29,237, with heavyweight Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) struggling in the wake of the market regulator’s ban, which barred the company from equity derivatives trading for one year.

The general global weakness stemmed from investors' doubts about future policies of US President Donald Trump, who failed to push through his much-hyped healthcare legislation, which cast its shadow on local stocks here.

Logging the first fall in three sessions, the 30-share index stayed in the negative zone throughout and settled down by 184.25 points, or 0.63 per cent, at 29,237.15 after hitting a low of 29,163.54.

The 50-share Nifty slipped below the 9,100-mark to touch a low of 9,024.65 before making a partial recovery to close 62.80 points, or 0.69 per cent, lower at 9,045.20.

Tata Steel was the top Sensex loser, skidding 3.15 per cent, followed by Reliance Industries (2.76 per cent). The rally in the rupee sent IT shares lower, which earn much of their revenue in the US dollar. HCL Technologies lost 1.8 per cent, Wipro 1.79 per cent and Tech Mahindra 1.25 per cent.

The rupee hit a nearly 1-1/2 year high to close at 65.04 against the dollar.

Stocks of drugmakers retreated, with Sun Pharma and Lupin ending lower by up to 1.76 per cent.

"Global headwinds on account of (Donald) Trump's failure on US healthcare bill has kept market across the world under the selling mode, including India. The global market waned due to the concern over the future rollout of tax cuts and fiscal spending plan in US," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

"The premium valuation and speculative trades as expiry nears will test investor's patience in the near term."

Meanwhile, the government tabled four Bills related to GST in the Lok Sabha today, which has taken the reform process a step closer to its intended rollout from July 1.

Coal India ended 2.06 per cent down even as the state-owned miner announced its second interim dividend of Rs1.15 per share for the current financial year.

Other major losers were Asian Paints, GAIL, ONGC, Adani Ports, Hero MotoCorp and Tata Motors.

Broader markets too were in a bearish mood. The mid-cap and small-cap indices closed lower.

In Asia, key indices turned lower. In Europe, most shares slipped.

Source :Times Of Oman