Oman- MSM-30 index declines to 6,565 points 

(MENAFN - Times of Oman) The MSM-30 index declined a slight 0.79 per cent to close at 6,565 points yesterday. The turnover for the day was RO6 million as against RO8.6 million compared to the previous day with 18 advances and 22 declines out of the 45 scrips that traded during the day. Amongst the sectors, Industry and Services & Insurance sector, posted losses of 1.4 per cent and 0.89 per cent, respectively.

The Banking & Investment sector posted a gain of 0.05 per cent following the Central Bank of Oman's move in coordination with the Ministry of Finance, to make available US dollar funds to the local banks through reverse swap facility and direct lending to help banks to overcome the liquidity.

Omantel declined by 2.17 per cent to close at RO1.713 after the company announced its results on Sunday. The top two gainers were: Oman Investment & Finance (9.93 per cent) and Financial Services (9.70 per cent) to close at RO0.166 and RO0.147. The top two losers were: Al Jazeera Steel Product (-6.83 per cent) and Galfar Engineering (-4.55 per cent) to close at RO0.450 and RO0.735, respectively. The top two by volume traded were: Galfar Engineering (2.7 million shares) and BankMuscat (0.79 million shares). The top two by value traded were: Galfar Engineering (RO2 million) and BankMuscat (RO0.78 million).

NAVs as of November 2, 2008: Oryx Fund-OMR 1.277, Muscat Fund-RO1.411 and BankMuscat MSCI Kuwait Fund: (Oct. 30, 2008) 0.8768.