ME conflict hurts sentiment; MSM down 

(MENAFN - Muscat Daily) Most regional markets closed in the red as the conflict in the Middle East left investors cautious.The Muscat Securities Market general index extended its loss and edged down 0.28 per cent to close at 5,601.94.Trading activity remained subdued as a total of 699 trades were executed generating a turnover of RO2.30mn, while 7.82mn shares were exchanged over the counters.Market breadth remained in favour of decliners as of the 44 securities traded for the day 15 declined, while nine advanced and 20 stocks closed unchanged.Top gainers of the day were Al Hassan Engineering (3.21 per cent at 161bz), Port Services Corporation (2.65 per cent at 503bz), Oman Fisheries (0.99 per cent at 102bz), HSBC Bank Oman (0.47 per cent at 212bz) and Renaissance Services (0.40 per cent at 503bz) while the top losers were Dhofar Cattle Feed (-2.26 per cent at 173bz), Construction Materials Industries (-1.79 per cent at 55bz), Bank Sohar (-1.31 per cent at 151bz), BankDhofar (-1.15 per cent at 345bz) and Al Jazeira Services (-1.07 per cent at 371bz).Among the sectoral indices, the Financial index dropped 0.34 per cent owing to declines in banking stocks. The Industrial and Services indices closed flat.By arrangement with National Bank of Oman