30 new companies for MSM day trading

MUSCAT: Muscat Securities Market (MSM) announced the new list of 30 companies approved for day trading.

The listed companies include Bank Muscat, Ominvest, Galfar Engineering and Contracting, Oman Telecommunications, Al Madina Takaful, Ooredoo, Gulf Investment Services Holding, Oman Fisheries, Bank Nizwa, Al Anwar Holdings, Renaissance Services, Bank Sohar, Phoenix Power, Bank Dhofar, HSBC Oman, A’sharqiya Investment Holding, National Bank of Oman, Muscat City Desalination, Oman Investment and Finance, Al Anwar Ceramic Tiles, Al Jazeira Services, Oman Cement, Oman and Emirates Investment Holding, National Gas, Alizz Islamic Bank, Al Maha Ceramics, Muscat Finance, Al Madina Investment, Al Suwadi Power and Voltamp Energy.

Badr bin Hamoud al Hinai, Operations Manager at MSM, said that the market will work with the new list of companies approved for day trade from December 2. Al Hinai said that MSM started day trade in November 2016, with the trader receiving an incentive of a 50-per cent discount on the trading commission. Thus, the commission under day trade incentive at MSM per trade for an investor amounts to 1.75 per thousand instead of 3.5 per thousand.

He also pointed out that this type of transactions aims to improve the investment environment in securities market to make it more attractive to investors, increase the liquidity, stimulate the volumes of shares traded and improve chances for active investors to get a better profit by reducing the cost of trading. He pointed out that MSM, in cooperation with the Omani Securities Association, set standards for companies subject to the reduction of trading fees in day trade, which were set in two parameters, the first of which is the volume of trading, so that the top 30 companies are selected in terms of volume.

The second criterion is in trading days, so that the number of trading days of the company within a year shall not be less than half the number of trading days in total, in addition to the unified ceiling on all companies, which is 200,000 shares per trading day. If the trade exceeds the standard ceiling, the amount of the increase will be subject to the ordinary commission.

The day trade means that a trader buys shares not exceeding 200,000 shares in one or more sample companies specified by the MSM and sells those shares at the same session or sell shares previously owned by the investor in one of the specified companies and repurchases them at the same session, provided that such transactions are carried out through the same broker.

The listed companies include Bank Muscat, Ominvest, Galfar Engineering and Contracting, Oman Telecommunications, Al Madina Takaful, Ooredoo, Gulf Investment Services Holding, Oman Fisheries, Bank Nizwa and Al Anwar Holdings