Muscat bourse falls on selling pressure

Muscat: Selling activity in large caps weighed on the MSM 30 Index, which declined by 0.44 per cent to close at 5,537.97 points. The MSM Sharia Index closed at 849.37 points, down by 0.39 per cent.
Bank Muscat was the most active in terms of volume as well as turnover. The top gainer was Takaful Oman, up by 2.11 per cent, while National Mineral Water was the top loser with loss of 16.67 per cent.
As many as 616 trades were executed on Sunday, generating turnover of OMR2.24 million with 9.6 million shares changing hands. Out of 37 traded securities, seven advanced, 17 declined and 13 remained unchanged. Omani investors remained net buyers of OMR654,000 followed by GCC and Arab investors for OMR178,000 while foreign investors were net sellers of OMR832,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index ended negatively at 7,197.11 points, down by 0.70 per cent. Takaful Oman, Global Financial Investment, Al Batinah Investment and Developmentand Oman United Insurance gained 2.11 per cent, 1.14 per cent, 1.14 per cent and 0.69 per cent, respectively. Al Madina Investment, HSBC Bank Oman, Al Sharqia Investment, Al Madina Takaful and Bank Sohar declined by 6.78 per cent, 1.69 per cent, 1.64 per cent, 1.43 per cent and 1.36 per cent, respectively.
Industrial Index retreated by 0.11 per cent to close at 7,143.18 points. Oman Flour Mills, up by 1.23 per cent, was the only sector gainer. National Mineral Water, Al Hassan Engineering, Galfar Engineering and Oman Fisheries declined by 16.67 per cent, 3.23 per cent, 2.08 per cent and 1.67 per cent, respectively.
Services Index declined by 0.21 per cent to end the session at 3,034.82 points. Port Services Corp. and Sembcorp Salalah increased by 1.67 per cent and 0.42 per cent, respectively. Al Jazeera Service, Ooredoo Oman, OIFC and Oman Telecommunications Company declined by 4.32 per cent, 1.19 per cent, 1.10 per cent and 0.67 per cent, respectively.