26/05/2015 00:33 AST
Oman's general index — MSM30 Index — ended on a flat note to close at 6,377.86 points, marginally up by 0.04 per cent. The MSM Sharia Index remained unchanged to close at 985.32 points. Oman & Emirates was the most active in terms of volume while Oreedoo Oman was the most active in terms of turnover. Monday's top gainer was Construction Material Industries, up by 2.63 per cent, while Al Jazeera Steel Products down by 4.22 per cent was the top loser for the day.
As many as 534 trades were executed during the day's trading session generating turnover of OMR4.29 million with more than 12.04 million shares changing hands. Out of 44 traded securities, 16 advanced, 12 declined and 16 remained unchanged. GCC and Arab investors were net buyers for OMR418,000 while foreign investors were net sellers of OMR390,000 followed by Omani investors for OMR28,000 worth of shares.
Financial Index closed at 7,762.31 points, down by 0.10 per cent. Al Madina Investment, ONIC Holding, Gulf Investment Services and Oman United Insurance increased by 1.32 per cent, 0.88 per cent, 0.74 per cent and 0.67 per cent, respectively. Global Financial Investment, Oman & Emirates and HSBC Bank Oman declined by 2.63 per cent, 0.92 per cent and 0.72 per cent, respectively.
Industrial Index closed at 8278.47 points, down by 0.36 per cent. Construction Material Industries, Al Anwar Ceramic and Oman Cables increased by 2.63 per cent, 0.48 per cent and 0.47 per cent, respectively. Al Jazeera Steel Product, Gulf International Chemicals, Galfar Engineering and Raysut Cement declined by 4.21 per cent, 1.36 per cent, 0.80 per cent and 0.64 per cent, respectively.
Services Sector Index up by 0.11 per cent to close at 3,451.66 points. Al Suwadi Power, Al Batinah Power, Al Jazeera Services and Sohar Power increased by 2.59 per cent,1.54 per cent, 1.10 per cent and 0.57 per cent, respectively. National Gas was the only loser in the sector and was down by 1.01 per cent to close at OMR0.394.
Arabtec project
An Egyptian government official on Monday denied a local media report that a project for Dubai-based builder Arabtec to build a million homes in the north African country had stalled.
"We are at the stage of preparing the contracts after receiving the necessary approvals, and we await the opinion of Arabtec's new management," assistant housing minister Khaled Abbas told Reuters by telephone.
Shares in Arabtec dropped 3.3 per cent on Sunday after Egyptian newspaper Al Mal reported, citing an anonymous source, that the deal over the project had fallen through. The firm was not immediately available for comment. Its shares were up 2.15 per cent in early trading.
Abu Dhabi businessman Mohamed Thani Murshed Ghannam al-Rumaithi was elected chairman of Arabtec earlier this month, the latest in a series of senior management changes over the past year.
Egyptian officials have said the entire housing project will cost about 280 billion Egyptian pounds ($36.7 billion) and Arabtec said in April the first phase would involve building 100,000 homes.
The project is seen as part of economic and political support for Egypt by the United Arab Emirates, which has provided billions of dollars of aid to Cairo since Islamist president Mohamed Mursi was ousted in 2013.
Times of Oman
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