Oman shares close unchanged despite improved turnover

Despite improved turnover, the benchmark MSM30 Index remained unchanged at 5,032.99 points. The MSM Sharia Index declined 0.27 per cent to end at 737.51 points. Oman Fisheries was the most active in terms of volume while Bank Muscat led in market turnover. The top gainer was Oman Fisheries, up 4.46 per cent while Oman Qatar Insurance was the top loser, down 5.06 per cent.

A total number of 536 trades were executed on Tuesday, generating turnover of OMR1.82 million with 9.13 million shares changing hands. Out of 38 traded securities, 6 advanced 14 declined and 18 remained unchanged. At the end of the trading session, Local Investors remained net buyers for OMR731,000 while Foreign Investors switched to net sellers for OMR503,000 followed by GCC & Arab Investors for OMR228,000 worth of shares.

Financial Index gained 0.18 per cent to close at 7,185.49 points. Al Sharqia Investment, HSBC Bank, Vision Insurance, Ahli Bank and Bank Sohar gained 1.98 per cent, 1.79 per cent, 1.46 per cent, 1.25 per cent and 0.64 per cent respectively. Oman Qatar Insurance, Muscat Finance, Takaful Oman, Gulf Investment Services and NBO lost 5.06 per cent, 5.00 per cent, 2.94 per cent, 1.35 per cent and 1.05 per cent respectively.

Industry Index ended at 6,744.34 points, down 0.22 per cent. Oman Fisheries, up 4.46 per cent, was the sole sector gainer. Al Maha Ceramics, Al Anwar Ceramics and Galfar Engineering declined 3.57 per cent, 2.40 per cent and 1.39 per cent respectively.

Services Index retreated 0.32 per cent to finish at 2,528.84 points. Al Batinah Power, Omantel, OIFC and National Gas declined 2.76 per cent, 0.81 per cent, 0.76 per cent and 0.41 per cent respectively.

Sensex ends higher

The BSE Sensex advanced by 0.31 per cent and the broader Nifty closed above the 10,200 mark today mainly on the back of gains in banking, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and oil stocks despite profit booking in key bluechips like Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Infosys.

The 30-share Sensex shuttled between 32,670.37 and 32,502.08 during the day before settling higher by 100.62 points or 0.31 per cent at 32,607.34, extending its gains for a second day.

The gauge had gained 116.76 points on Monday.

The NSE Nifty climbed 22.85 points, or 0.22 per cent, to close above the 10,200-mark at 10,207.70. Intra-day, it moved between 10,237.75 and 10,182.40 in a volatile trade.

The sentiment got support from better-than-expected earning results by select companies and continuous buying by domestic financial institutions.

"Banking sector led the market higher on expectations over Finance Minister's announcement on recapitalisation plans for publics sector undertaking (PSU) banks later today, but earnings too did its part in keeping sentiments buoyant," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

"Volatility continued to plague market momentum as mixed global cues and the expiry of October derivatives contracts impacted investor sentiment," said Karthikraj Lakshmanan, senior fund manager, Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.

The broader markets depicted a firm trend as investors raised bets on hopes of encouraging earnings, lifting the small-cap index by 0.56 per cent and mid-cap index by 0.21 per cent.

Buying was led by PSU, power, oil & gas, banks, metal, realty and FMCG — supported by second-line shares of mid-cap and small-cap industries. While selling was seen in IT, healthcare and consumer durables sector counters.

Asian Paints emerged as the top gainer among Sensex constituents by rising 4.10 per cent on expectations of strong earnings, followed by state-run lender SBI which rose 3.56 per cent.

ICICI Bank and Kotak Bank too rose up to 1.70 per cent, helping the indices to extend gains for a second day.

Other major gainers were NTPC, ONGC, Hindsutan Unilever, Tata Steel, Power Grid, Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki, L&T, Axis Bank, Cipla, ITC HDFC LTD and Dr Reddy's.

However, the country's second largest software exporter Infosys lost 1.37 per cent ahead of its quartelry earnings announced after the trading hours today.

Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, Lupin, Sun Pharma, M&M, Hero MotoCorp, TCS, Adani Ports and Wipro too fell up to 1.54 per cent on profit-booking.

Source:Timesofoman