MSM index ends higher

Financial Index rallied sharply to close at 7,382.07 points, up 1.21 per cent

MUSCAT: Driven by financial stocks, the MSM30 Index opened the week on a strong note at 4,821.19 points, up 0.46 per cent. The MSM Sharia Index was unchanged at 673.71 points. Gulf Investment Services was the most active in terms of volume while Omantel was the leader in terms of turnover due to a special deal. The top gainer was Al Kamil Power, up 4.44 per cent while Oman Cables Industry was the top loser, down 3.23 per cent.

A total number of 1,136 trades were executed on Sunday, generating turnover of OMR5.58 million with 29.6 million shares changing hands. Out of 45 traded securities, 24 advanced, 6 declined and 15 remained unchanged. At the session close, GCC & Arab investors were net buyers for OMR294,000 while Omani investors were net sellers for OMR162,000 followed by Foreign investors for OMR132,000 worth of shares.

Financial Index rallied sharply to close at 7,382.07 points, up 1.21 per cent. HSBC Bank, Gulf Investment Services, Bank Nizwa, Al Madina Takaful and Bank Sohar gained 3.85 per cent, 3.67 per cent, 2.33 per cent, 2.15 per cent and 2.05 per cent respectively.

Industrial Index was stable at 6,571.27 points, up 0.01 per cent. Construction Materials, Galfar Engineering, Al Hassan Engineering, Oman Fisheries and Oman Flour Mills gained 3.45 per cent, 2.78 per cent, 2.56 per cent, 1.57 per cent and 1.16 per cent respectively. Oman Cables, National Aluminium and Oman Cement declined 3.23 per cent, 1.71 per cent and 0.56 per cent respectively.

Services Index declined 0.14 per cent to finish at 2,623.16 points. Al Kamil Power, Al Batinah Development, OIFC, Al Jazeera Services and Sohar Power gained 4.44 per cent, 2.21 per cent, 1.57 per cent, 1.06 per cent and 0.87 per cent respectively. Al Maha Petroleum, Omantel and Ooredoo decreased 3.08 per cent, 0.91 per cent and 0.40 per cent respectively.