MUSCAT: Muscat Securities Market (MSM) has announced that it will be introducing ‘Day Trading’ at the local bourse from Sunday, November 13. Day trading means buying and selling the same shares during the same trading day, or selling existing shares and buying them back on the same day, through the same broker.
The practice is usually used by traders seeking to earn profits by taking advantage of small price movements in liquid stocks, for which MSM and the Oman Brokers Association have selected 30 most liquid companies listed on the MSM and which have traded at least 50 per cent of trading days in the past 52 weeks to form an eligible list of companies for day trading.
A cap of 200,000 shares has been set for each company, meaning that a trader can take part in day trading and get a commission discount up to this cap for each company. Any day trading after the cap will be considered normal trading and the normal trading commission will be applied. About the introduction of day trading, Saqar bin Mohammed Al Khalili, deputy general manager of Operations and Surveillance, said the introduction of day trading will attract more investors and improve liquidity leading to a better investment environment and further market development.
Al Khalili also noted that investors do not need to sign any contracts or documents with their brokers to qualify for day trading; all investors, except trust accounts, will get the commission discount each time they execute day trades. It is important to note that a broker has the right to ensure that clients have sufficient cash in their accounts for day trading. MSM and the Oman Brokers Association will review the list of companies and the cap on companies after three to six months.
