The Muscat Securities Market continued to climb on Monday with strong buying support from local investors. The benchmark index gained 1.28 per cent before closing at a 52-week high of 6,633.41.
Trading activity improved significantly as a total of 2,475 trades were executed, generating a turnover of RO11.67mn while 47.68mn shares were exchanged over the counters. Bank Sohar (+6.67 per cent at 208bz) topped the list with highest volume while its minority shareholder Oman Investment and Finance Co (OIFC) topped the list with highest turnover.
Market breadth stood in favour of advancers as of the 52 securities traded for the day 26 advanced while 17 declined and 19 stocks closed unchanged. Apart from Bank Sohar, the other top gainers for the day were Al Batinah Development and Investment (+5.98 per cent at 124bz), HSBC Bank Oman (+3.54 per cent at 205bz), Transgulf Investment Holding (+3.47 per cent at 179bz) and Port Services Corp (+3.32 per cent at 498bz) while the top losers for the day were Al Sharqia Investment Holding (-4.51 per cent at 212bz), Global Financial Investment (-2.16 per cent at 136bz), Voltamp Energy (-2.15 per cent at 410bz), United Finance (-1.88 per cent at 157bz) and Al Anwar Holding (-1.70 per cent at 231bz).
All the three sectoral indices ended the day with substantial gains. The Financial index led the market rally and moved up 1.05 per cent with support from Bank Sohar, HSBC Bank Oman, BankDhofar (+2.04 per cent at 351bz) and National Bank of Oman (+1.08 per cent at 282bz). The Industrial index followed, adding 0.66 per cent with gains from Raysut Cement (+2.10 per cent at RO2.04) and Oman Cement (+2.13 per cent at 817bz) while the Services index rose 0.90 per cent as Al Maha Marketing (2.73 per cent at RO20.60) and Nawras (+1.80 per cent at 510bz) attracted fresh buying interest.
