MSM index ends lower

Wednesday’s top gainer was Majan College, up by 10 per cent, while Al Jazeera Steel, down by 5.96 per cent, was the top loser

MUSCAT: Following regional cues, the MSM30 Index dropped 0.22 per cent to finish at 5,617.68 points. The MSM Sharia Index closed at 843.70 points, down 0.32 per cent. Bank Sohar was the most active in terms of volume while Omantel was the most active in terms of turnover. Al Hassan Engineering, up by 7.27 per cent, remained top gainer while Al Jazeera Services was top loser, down by 8.95 per cent.

A total number of 452 trades were executed on Wednesday, generating turnover of OMR3.02 million with 9.2 million shares changing hands. Out of 45 traded securities, 7 advanced, 13 declined and 25 remained unchanged. GCC and Arab investors switched to net buyers for OMR148,000 while Omani investors were net sellers for OMR105,000 followed by foreign investors for OMR43,000 worth of shares.

Financial Index closed at 7,945.49 points, down 0.35 per cent. Financial Corporation, Takaful Oman, Al Izz Bank, Oman United Insurance and Gulf Investment Services increased 8.89 per cent, 2.38 per cent, 1.43%, 0.97 per cent and 0.89 per cent respectively. Oman & Emirates Holding, HSBC Bank Oman and Bank Muscat declined 2.27 per cent, 1.54 per cent and 1.52 per cent respectively.

Industrial Index declined by 0.12 per cent to close at 7,869.14 points. Al Hassan Engineering, Oman Fisheries and National Aluminium gained 7.27 per cent, 2.84 per cent and 0.57 per cent respectively. Al Jazeera Steel, Gulf International Chemicals and Voltamp Energy decreased 4.35 per cent, 1.03 per cent and 0.71 per cent respectively.

Services Index ended negatively at 2,940.50 points, down 0.27 per cent. Omantel, Port Services and OIFC gained 1.82 per cent, 1.02 per cent and 0.43 per cent respectively. Al Maha Petroleum, Ooredoo, Sembcorp Salalah, Phoenix Power and Al Batinah Power lost 7.03 per cent, 6.80 per cent, 0.82 per cent, 0.70 per cent and 0.55 per cent respectively.

Sensex declines

The S&P BSE benchmark Sensex showed a biggest single day fall of 318 points after three and a half month to close at 29,167.68 due to selling pressure mainly in Telecom, Consumer Durable, Auto, FMCG, Industrial and Metal sectors on the back lower global cues.

Persistent foreign capital inflows failed to restrict the Sensex fall. The NSE 50-share nifty also showed a biggest single day fall of 91.05 points to close at 9,030.45.

The Sensex resumed lower at 29,341.41 and fell further to 29,137.48 before ending at 29,167.68, showing a loss of 317.77 points or 1.08 per cent.

The Sensex had last dropped by 329.26 points of 1.24 per cent on December 2, 2016.