MUSCAT: Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) is tightening market-making obligations and streamlining foreign investor onboarding as it seeks to convert bursts of trading activity into “structural” liquidity that can absorb institutional-sized orders without sharp price swings, its chief executive said.

In an exclusive interview with the Observer, Haitham bin Salim al Salmi, CEO, said “real progress” in 2026 should be judged beyond index levels by three indicators: executable liquidity depth, a more stable ownership structure with higher long-term institutional participation and a rising number of listed companies consistently meeting international size, liquidity and free-float thresholds in line with MSCI and FTSE criteria.

“As Market classification is not achieved through short-term performance spikes, but through consistent technical eligibility over time. For us, real progress means a deeper, more stable and globally investable market”, he noted.

According to the official, liquidity has become the market’s central narrative, but the challenge is quality as much as quantity, arguing that deeper order books improve price discovery and reduce distortions caused by thin trading.

Haitham bin Salim al Salmi, CEO — MSX

As a first step, MSX is enhancing its market-making framework by strengthening quoting obligations, tightening bid-ask spreads and requiring continuous two-sided markets even during volatile periods — measures aimed at keeping tradable depth available when investors need it most.

In parallel, the exchange is seeking to broaden its capital base through regional integration via Tabadul and by simplifying access for foreign investors, supported by improved banking integration. Al Salmi said diversified participation helps balance the order book and supports “credible price formation”.

On regional connectivity, he said MSX will judge early success during the first 6–12 months by tangible cross-border trading flows, a measurable rise in non-resident participation and a stronger contribution from regional market makers to price stability.

A testament to this momentum, trading value through Tabadul-linked activity in 2025 reached approximately AED 5.6 billion (equivalent to about RO 585 million), providing an early benchmark of activity that it intends to scale in the coming phase.

Al Salmi framed the push as part of a broader shift towards a more institutionally oriented market model, where stability of the investor base can dampen volatility and support deeper, more predictable liquidity. Over time, he said, the number of companies meeting international eligibility thresholds on a sustained basis — a prerequisite for consistent foreign allocations that are often benchmark-driven — remains a key area of focus.

The exchange’s direction of travel is “structural”, he said, positioning deeper liquidity and wider participation as essential to strengthening capital markets’ role in financing the national economy under Oman Vision 2040.

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