Muscat bourse edges up

Muscat: Amid moderate volumes, the MSM 30 index ended positively at 5,488.93 points, a gain of 0.39 per cent. The MSM Sharia Index gained 0.38 per cent to close at 842.17 points.
Galfar Engineering was the most active in terms of volume while Bank Muscat led in terms of turnover. Al Hassan Engineering, up 5.13 per cent, remained the top gainer while Oman United Insurance was the day’s top loser, down 7.95 per cent.
As many as 905 trades were executed on Sunday, generating turnover of OMR2.2 million with 16 million shares changing hands. Out of 34 traded securities, 14 advanced, six declined and 14 remained unchanged. Omani investors were net buyers for OMR192,000 followed by GCC and Arab investors for OMR1,000 while foreign investors switched to net sellers for OMR193,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index rebounded 0.38 per cent to end at 6,932.62 points. Al Anwar Holding, Bank Sohar, Al Madina Investments, Al Madina Takaful and DBIH gained by 3.57 per cent, 2.11 per cent, 1.61 per cent, 1.39 per cent and 1.28 per cent, respectively. Al Sharqia Investments, Gulf Investment Services, Muscat Finance and Bank Muscat slid by 1.94 per cent, 1.92 per cent, 0.86 per cent and 0.52 per cent, respectively.
Industrial Index advanced by 0.63 per cent to close at 6,704.05 points. Al Hassan Engineering, Galfar Engineering, Oman Cables, Oman Fisheries and Al Jazeera Steel increased by 6.10 per cent, 5.95 per cent, 4.93 per cent, 3.51 per cent and 0.71 per cent, respectively. Gulf International Chemicals and Oman Textiles declined by 9.48 per cent and 1.23 per cent, respectively.
Services Index closed at 3,109.59 points, up by 0.25 per cent. Port Services, Ooredoo Oman, Sembcorp Salalah and Oman Telecommunications Company gained by 3.89 per cent, 1.11 per cent, 0.37 per cent and 0.33 per cent, respectively.