Muscat bourse closes flat

Muscat: Muscat bourse closed on a flat note 5,730.97 points, up 0.04 per cent. The MSM Sharia Index ended 862.53 points, up by 0.20 per cent.
Galfar Engineering was the most active in terms of volume while Bank Nizwa led in terms of turnover. Oman Fisheries was the top gainer, up by 9.84 per cent, while Al Sharqia Investment was the top loser, with loss of 4.84 per cent.
As many as1,796 trades were executed on Wednesday, generating turnover of OMR5.95 million with 41.5 million shares changing hands. Out of 51 traded securities, 18 advanced, 16 declined and 17 remained unchanged. Omani investors were net buyers for OMR155,000 followed by GCC and Arab investors for OMR57,000 while foreign investors switched to net sellers for OMR212,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index retreated 0.21 per cent to close at 7,410.91 points. Al Madina Investments, Al Madina Takaful, HSBC Bank, Muscat Finance and Bank Nizwa gained by 2.86 per cent, 2.63 per cent, 2 per cent, 1.72 per cent and 1.27 per cent, respectively. Al Sharqia Investment, Oman & Emirates, Gulf Investment Services, Al Anwar Holding and Bank Sohar declined by 4.84 per cent, 3.70 per cent, 2.26 per cent, 1.76 per cent and 1.17 per cent, respectively.
Industrial Index gained by 0.12 per cent to close at 6,971.80 points. Oman Fisheries, Construction Materials, Al Anwar Ceramics, National Aluminium and Voltamp Energy increased by 9.84 per cent, 2.86 per cent, 1.77 per cent, 1.21 per cent and 0.91 per cent, respectively. Al Jazeera Steel, Al Hassan Engineering, Galfar Engineering and Al Maha Ceramics slid 2.35 per cent, 2.25 per cent, 1 per cent and 0.48 per cent, respectively.
Services Index ended at 3,158.98 points, up by 0.08 per cent. Renaissance Services, Al Maha Petroleum, Port Services and Al Jazeera Services gained by 1.98 per cent, 1.52 per cent, 0.88 per cent and 0.37 per cent, respectively. Sembcorp Salalah, Phoenix Power, OIFC, Oman Telecommunications Company and Sharqiyah Desalination declined by 1.51 per cent, 0.66 per cent, 0.46 per cent, 0.31 per cent and 0.11 per cent, respectively.