Wednesday 24 / April / 2024
Muscat: Amid dull trading activity, the MSM30 Index ended on flat note at 5,656.35 points, up by 0.03 per cent. The MSM Sharia Index closed at 854.23 points, up by 0.18 per cent. Galfar Engineering was the most active in terms of volume as well as turnover. With a gain of 9.95 per cent, Packaging Company was the top gainer while Bank Sohar, down by 1.85 per cent, was the top loser.
As many as 585 trades were executed on Wednesday, generating a turnover of OMR2.1 million with 10.2 million shares changing hands. Out of 42 traded securities, 10 advanced, 12 declined and 20 remained unchanged. GCC and Arab investors switched to net buyers for OMR191,000 while foreign investors were net sellers for OMR112,000 followed by Omani investors for OMR79,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index retreated 0.54 per cent to close at 7,475.77 points. Bank Sohar, Al Izz Bank, Al Sharqia Investments, National Bank of Oman and Bank Nizwa declined by 1.85 per cent, 1.43 per cent, 1.41 per cent, 1.26 per cent and 1.22 per cent, respectively.
Industrial Index rallied 0.97 per cent to finish at 7,359.60 points. Packaging Company, Galfar Engineering, Oman Cement, Voltamp Energy and Al Jazeera Steel gained by 9.95 per cent, 6.25 per cent, 2.22 per cent, 2.13 per cent and 2.04 per cent, respectively. Al Anwar Ceramics and Gulf International Chemicals declined by 1.73 per cent and 0.37 per cent, respectively.
Services Index ended at 3,045.08 points, up by 0.32 per cent. Port Services, Oman Telecommunications Company, Ooredoo Oman, Phoenix Power and National Gas increased by 2.55 per cent, 1.33 per cent, 1.28 per cent, 0.69 per cent and 0.68 per cent, respectively. OIFC and Al Jazeera Services declined by 0.96 per cent and 0.50 per cent, respectively.
Sensex loses 156 points
The Reserve Bank's decision to leave interest rates untouched caught the market by surprise as the Sensex switched gear by reversing its two days of gains and cracked 156 points today to close at 26,237.
The 30-share index declined by 155.89 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 26,236.87 after shuttling between 26,540.83 and 26,164.82. The gauge had gained over 162 points in the previous two sessions.
The wider Nifty hit a low of 8,077.50 before recovering partially to settle at 8,102.05, down 41.10 points or 0.50 per cent. It touched a high of 8,190.45 in early trade.
"Markets traded cautiously along the flat line in the first half of trade today, only to witness a sharp drop after, contrary to market expectations, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.25 per cent," said Karthikraj Lakshmanan, Senior Fund Manager, Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.
The Patel-led six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which in its first policy meet had cut interest rate by 0.25 per cent in October, this time belied expectations to keep the benchmark repo rate unchanged at 6.25 per cent unanimously.
Interest rate-sensitive banking stocks such as SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank reacted strongly, all of which fell by up to 2 per cent.
Out of the 30-share Sensex pack, 25 ended lower while only 5 led by Adani Ports, HDFC, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors and M&M finished higher, which cushioned the fall.
Sun Pharma bled by falling 5.96 per cent, followed by TCS 1.47 per cent, Tata Steel 1.40, Lupin 1.33 per cent and ITC 1.17 per cent.
The BSE healthcare index shed 1.70 per cent, followed by realty 1.49 per cent and banking 1.07 per cent.
In line with the trend, the small-cap index retreated 0.51 per cent and mid-cap 0.16 per cent.
Most Asian shares ended higher as investors looked forward to the upcoming policy meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) for comfort after a referendum defeat tipped Italy into political turmoil.
Japan's Nikkei advanced 0.74 per cent, China's Shanghai index 0.71 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.55 per cent. European markets too were trading in the positive terrain in their early deals.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 gained 1.10 per cent while France Paris CAC 40 climbed 1 per cent. London's FTSE rose 0.7 per cent.
