Regional markets ended mixed on Sunday as most investors reassessed the sustainability of hefty year-to-date gains of the respective indices.
Strong foreign buying activity on the Muscat Securities Market helped the general index gain 0.17 per cent to 6,374.76.
Trading activity improved from last week as a total of 1,583 trades were executed, generating a turnover of RO22.76mn while 28.59mn shares were exchanged over the counters.
At the session closing Al Anwar Holding (+5.80 per cent at 219bz) topped the list with highest volume while a special deal on Sohar Power (+4.22 per cent at RO2.25) helped the stock close with the highest turnover for the day. Market breadth stood in favour of advancers as of the 52 securities traded for the day 22 advanced while eight declined and 22 stocks closed unchanged.
Apart from Al Anwar Holding and Sohar Power, the other top gainers for the day were United Finance (+1.31 per cent at 155bz), Financial Services (+1.18 per cent at 86bz) and Al Anwar Ceramic Tiles (+1.16 per cent at 437bz) while the top losers for the day were Al Batinah Development and Investment (-3.53 per cent at 82bz), Oman Fisheries (-0.90 per cent at 110bz), Taageer Finance (-0.64 per cent at 156bz), Ominvest (-0.25 per cent at 405bz) and Al Jazeira Services (-0.22 per cent at 450bz).
All the three sectoral indices closed in the green. The Financial sector index added 0.41 per cent owing to gains from HSBC Bank Oman (+0.51 per cent at 199bz) and National Bank of Oman (-0.36 per cent at 278bz). The Industrial sector index added 0.25 per cent supported by Oman Cable (0.74 per cent at RO1.91) while the Services sector index closed up 0.29 per cent.
