16/06/2015 07:32 AST
MSM30 Index increased 0.09 per cent and closed at 6,494.39 points. The MSM Sharia Index closed at 997.81 points, up by 0.03 per cent. Oman & Emirates Holding was the most active in terms of volume and turnover. Voltamp Energy, up by 3.40 per cent, was Monday’s top gainer, while Global Finance & Investment, down by 3.23 per cent, was the day’s top loser.
A total number of 779 trades were executed during the day's trading session generating turnover of OMR3.26 million with over 17.2 million shares changing hands. Out of 41 traded securities, 17 advanced, six declined and 18 remained unchanged. Omani Investors were net buyers for OMR107,000 while Foreign Investors were net sellers for OMR55,000 followed by GCC & Arab Investors for OMR52,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index was the top sub-index today, closing at 7,907.46 points, up by 0.45 per cent. Al Anwar Holding, NBO, Oman & Emirates Holding, Gulf Investment Services and Bank Nizwa gained 2.77 per cent, 1.82 per cent, 1.77 per cent, 1.44 per cent and 1.39 per cent respectively. Global Finance & Investment, Al Omaniya Financial and Bank Sohar declined 3.23 per cent, 1.23 per cent and 0.53 per cent respectively.
Industrial Index gained 0.18 per cent to end at 8,420.66 points. Voltamp Energy, Oman Fisheries, Oman Flour Mills and Al Maha Ceramics increased 3.40 per cent, 1.72 per cent, 0.40 per cent and 0.37 per cent respectively. Al Hassan Engineering and Raysut Cement declined 1.96 per cent and 0.32 per cent respectively.
Services Sector Index closed the session at 3,508.25 points, down by 0.14 per cent. United Power, Al Suwadi Power and OIFC increased 2.61 per cent, 0.49 per cent and 0.42 per cent respectively. Renaissance Services, down by 2.52 per cent, was the only sector loser.
Dubai Cable 60m plant
Dubai Cable Co., the second-largest cable manufacturer in the Middle East, is building its first aluminium plant as customers in Saudi Arabia to the US seek cheaper alternatives to copper for power transmission.
The $60 million factory in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates will have capacity to produce 50,000 metric tonnes of aluminium rod and overhead conductors annually, Andrew Shaw, managing director of Dubai Cable, said in an interview on Monday at the company’s copper rod plant in Dubai. The project, called Ducab Aluminium Co., will create 120 to 140 jobs with its opening planned for the first quarter of 2016, he said.
Copper is losing about two per cent a year of demand to less costly materials such as aluminium, or about 500,000 tonnes, London-based researcher CRU estimates. Aluminium is about 30 per cent cheaper than copper and supplies in warehouses monitored by the London Metal Exchange are 12 times larger.
“Given the relative economics of copper versus aluminum, particularly in Saudi Arabia, they’ve tended to chose aluminium,” Shaw said. “We see a slow substitution of copper for aluminum, particularly in a country like Saudi which is a very large market.”
Dubai Cable, started in 1979, is mostly a copper buyer, purchasing about 135,000 tonnes of the metal a year, with about 70,000 to 80,000 tonnes used to make cables. Last year, it bought 8,000 tonnes of aluminum. Riyadh Cables Group is the biggest cable producer in the Middle East, according to Shaw.
Times of Oman
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