Muscat bourse trading hits 6-month high as market value slips

Summary

• Muscat Securities Market turnover reached 1.291 billion Omani rials in October, the highest monthly level since April.
• Trading rose from 914 million rials in September even as the main index and sector gauges fell.
• Buying by local institutions and liquidity funds cushioned a correction that pulled market value to 38.589 billion rials.

The latest

Turnover on the Muscat bourse climbed to 1.291 billion Omani rials in October 2026 from 914 million rials in September, the strongest monthly reading since April, according to data from the exchange carried by Qatar News Agency. The jump came in the same month the main index retreated and total market capitalisation fell to 38.589 billion rials.

Details

• The headline number: Trading value reached 1 billion and 291.3 million Omani rials in October, against 914 million rials the previous month, according to Muscat bourse data reported by Qatar News Agency. That is an increase of roughly 377 million rials in a single month and the highest monthly turnover recorded since April.
• Transaction count: The exchange logged its highest monthly number of executed trades of the year, surpassing 294,000 transactions compared with 199,000 in September. The near 48% jump in deal count points to broad participation rather than a handful of large block trades lifting the value figure.
• Volume traded: The number of securities changing hands rose to about 4.2 billion shares in October, up from 3.3 billion in the preceding month, according to the same data. Rising volume alongside falling prices is the signature of accumulation during a decline.
• What drove it: The increase was supported by market-making funds, the liquidity development fund and buying appetite from local investment institutions, the bourse data showed. Those vehicles exist specifically to absorb selling pressure and keep order books active when sentiment weakens.
• Corporate earnings: The pickup coincided with improved financial results at listed companies and higher net profits in the third quarter, according to the exchange. Stronger earnings give institutional buyers a fundamental argument for stepping in while valuations are compressing.
• The correction: October brought a wave of price correction that hit shares of most blue-chip companies and pushed the main index and sector indices lower, the data showed. The exchange did not publish the percentage decline in the main index or name the sectors that fell hardest.
• Market capitalisation: Total market value ended the month at 38 billion and 589 million Omani rials. The bourse did not disclose the comparable September figure, leaving the size of the monthly erosion in capitalisation unquantified in the released data.
• The divergence: Turnover, transaction count and traded volume all rose while prices and market value fell — three activity gauges moving against the price gauge in the same month. That split is the central feature of October's session data.

Background

The liquidity development fund and market-making funds are state-linked instruments created to deepen trading on the Omani exchange and narrow spreads, giving authorities a direct channel to support activity when private flows thin out.

Between the lines

Record deal counts and a nine-percentage jump in volume during a month of falling prices suggest shares moved from sellers exiting the correction to the local institutions and liquidity funds named as the drivers. That absorption is what limits how deep a correction runs, though the data stops short of quantifying how much of October's flow came from the support vehicles rather than private buyers.

What's next

November turnover and market capitalisation figures will show whether institutional buying held the floor or the correction extended. Fourth-quarter earnings from the blue chips that led October's decline are the next fundamental test.

Source: Qatar News Agency (QNA), citing Muscat Securities Market data