Muscat Stock Exchange will extend its daily trading hours from June 1, 2026, adding a longer execution window as Oman seeks to deepen market liquidity, improve price discovery and make its capital market more accessible to regional and global investors.The revised timetable will begin with a pre-opening session from 9.30am to 10am, followed by continuous trading until 2.45pm. A pre-closing session will run until 2.55pm, with trading at close continuing until 3pm, when the market will formally shut. The change effectively lengthens the trading day and gives investors more time to place, adjust and execute orders during periods that often shape benchmark pricing.
The exchange has framed the move as part of a wider programme to modernise market infrastructure and align operational standards with more developed regional and international exchanges. Longer trading hours are expected to support more orderly order flow, reduce pressure around opening and closing periods, and allow market participants to react more fully to corporate disclosures, macroeconomic data and overseas market movements.
Haitham Salim Al Salmi, chief executive officer of Muscat Stock Exchange, said the extension forms part of MSX’s development strategy and is intended to create a more flexible and efficient trading environment. He said closer alignment with regional and international trading windows would help integrate Oman’s market into global financial flows and strengthen its appeal to foreign investors.
The timing is significant for Oman’s capital market, which has been gaining attention after a series of state-linked listings and reforms designed to broaden public ownership, improve transparency and create deeper investment channels. The country has used public offerings by major state-owned or state-related businesses to expand the exchange’s size and draw wider investor participation, while regulatory measures have sought to encourage more companies to list.
Trading activity on the exchange rose sharply in 2025, with total traded value reaching OMR5.42 billion, compared with OMR1.25 billion in 2024 and OMR1.13 billion in 2023. That jump reflected stronger activity in large-cap shares, heightened interest in new listings and a broader push to use the equity market as a platform for economic diversification. Market capitalisation has also grown, supported by larger listed entities and stronger investor appetite for energy, banking, logistics and industrial names.
OQ Exploration and Production’s listing in October 2024 marked a turning point for the market. The company raised about OMR780 million through an offering of 25 per cent of its share capital, making it Oman’s largest initial public offering. The offer was oversubscribed, underlining demand from institutional and retail investors and reinforcing the government’s strategy of bringing major assets to the market.
Other transactions have strengthened that momentum. Listings linked to energy, logistics and infrastructure have helped increase market depth, while planned and completed divestments by state investment entities have widened the range of investable companies. The strategy is closely tied to Oman Vision 2040, which seeks to diversify the economy, expand private-sector participation and reduce reliance on hydrocarbons over the long term.
The extension of trading hours also comes as Gulf exchanges compete more aggressively for international capital. Larger markets in the region have invested heavily in liquidity programmes, market-making arrangements, foreign ownership reforms, derivatives, exchange-traded funds and settlement upgrades. Oman’s market remains smaller than several neighbouring bourses, but its reform agenda has been designed to narrow that gap by improving access, execution quality and investor confidence.
For brokers and institutional investors, the longer session may improve the ability to manage larger orders without causing excessive price swings. It could also help investors respond to developments across Asian, Gulf and European markets during overlapping hours. Better overlap with international trading schedules is particularly important for foreign funds that manage allocations across multiple time zones.
The change is not without operational implications. Brokers, custodians, listed companies and technology providers will need to adjust systems, staffing and internal procedures to handle the longer session. Market participants will also be watching whether the extra hour translates into sustained liquidity or simply spreads existing activity over a longer period. The effect is likely to become clearer after several weeks of trading under the new timetable.
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