Banking stocks lift Muscat index

Muscat: A surge in heavyweight banking stocks drove the MSM 30 index higher by one per cent to close at 5,430.11 points. The MSM Sharia Index ended at 837.48 points, down 0.10 per cent.
Bank Muscat was the most active in terms of volume and turnover. Up 5.43 per cent, Bank Muscat was the top gainer while Al Maha Ceramics was the top loser, down 9.50 per cent.
As many as1,612 trades were executed on Tuesday, generating turnover of OMR8.2 million with 35.7 million shares changing hands. Out of 50 traded securities, 32 advanced, five declined and 13 remained unchanged. Omani investors were net buyers for OMR799,000 followed by GCC and Arab investors for OMR335,000 while foreign investors were net sellers for OMR1.13 million worth of shares.
Financial Index increased sharply by 1.61 per cent to end at 6,731.44 points. Bank Muscat, Gulf Investment Services, Al Batinah Development, Al Sharqia Investments and Al Anwar Holding gained by 5.43 per cent, 4.35 per cent, 4.11 per cent, 4 per cent and 3.35 per cent, respectively. Takaful Oman, down 1.94 per cent, was the only sector loser.
Industrial Index ended negatively at 6,523.53 points, down 0.81 per cent. Oman Textiles, Al Hassan Engineering, Galfar Engineering, Al Jazeera Steel and Oman Fisheries increased by 4.94 per cent, 3.28 per cent, 3.17 per cent, 2.21 per cent and 1.82 per cent, respectively. Al Maha Ceramics and Oman Cables declined by 9.50 per cent and 4.28 per cent, respectively.
Services Index advanced 0.57 per cent to close at 3093.96 points. Renaissance Services, Al Jazeera Services, OIFC, Port Services and Ooredoo Oman gained by 3.49 per cent, 2.74 per cent, 1.95 per cent, 1.10 per cent and 1.10 per cent, respectively. Oman Oil Marketing and Phoenix Power declined by 2.56 per cent and 1.35 per cent, respectively.