MSM drops 0.4%; volumes rise

The benchmark index of the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) dropped 0.39 per cent to close at 3,588.56 points on Monday. The decline in the main index was due to the weak performance of financial sector stocks.

While Financial index fell more than 1 per cent, Industrial and Services indices recorded gains of 0.28 per cent and 0.61 per cent, respectively. MSM Sharia index marginally increased by 0.06 per cent and closed at 519.06 points.

Trading activity improved on Monday compared to the previous session. The market turnover jumped 122 per cent to RO1.76mn on Monday against RO795,000 recorded on Sunday. The total trading volumes increased more than 31 per cent to 7.7mn shares compared to 5.8mn on Sunday.

Top gainers on Monday were Al Jazeera Steel Products (4.13 per cent), Sembcorp Salalah (3.81 per cent), Al Jazeira Services (2.65 per cent) and Galfar Engineering and Contracting (2.5 per cent).

Top losers were Dhofar Cattle Feed (9.5 per cent), Gulf Investment Services Holding (–9.3 per cent), Muscat City Desalination (-8.0 per cent) and Sohar International Bank (-4.2 per cent).