Mubasher: The Muscat Securities Market (MSM) closed Wednesday in red, as the benchmark index, MSM 30, dropped by 1.71% or 90.24 points to 5,199.09 points, the lowest level since 30 April 2009, when the index reached the level of 5,128.88 points.

The Sharia Index also edged down 0.75%, reaching the level of 838.96 points.

Trading volume rose by 43.86% to 12.95 million shares, versus nine million shares exchanged yesterday.

Turnover surged 68.40% to OMR 4.44 million, compared to OMR 2.6 million yesterday.

The market value reached OMR 15.55 billion, against OMR 15.67 billion on Tuesday.

The services and financial sectors moved down by 1.51% and 1.18%, respectively, while the industrial sector was up by 0.03%.

Al Jazeera Steel was the best performer as it grew 5.84%, while Bank Sohar was the worst with a 5.84% decrease.

Oman Qatari Telecommunications was the value leader with OMR 1.17 million, whereas Bank Muscat was the most traded stock after 2.4 million shares changed hand.

The main index closed yesterday with a fall of 0.9% or 48.10 points to 5,289.34 points.