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| This May 7, 2020 file photo shows the Tokyo Stock Exchange. (File photo by=Mainichi) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] TOKYO: Tokyo Stock Exchange Inc. said Wednesday it will extend its regular trading hours by 30 minutes, possibly starting in the second half of fiscal 2024, to make the bourse more competitive internationally and attractive to investors.
It will be the first extension of closing hours in about 70 years. With the change, the market will operate from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with an hour-long lunch break, according to Japan Exchange Group Inc., the parent of the bourse's operator. The planned extension from the current 3 p.m. close is also aimed at helping investors secure trading opportunities in case of any trouble such as a system outage, said the world's third-largest bourse that has around 3,700 listed companies.
The bourse suffered an unprecedented all-day system shutdown in October last year, which also halted all trading of equities listed on stock exchanges in Sapporo, Nagoya, and Fukuoka. Following last year's outage, the TSE studied the viability of extending trading hours in conjunction with securities houses and institutional investors. Ideas for extensions longer than 30 minutes faced skepticism during the talks. Many investment trust firms and some listed companies voiced concern that it would force them to extend their business hours as well, the TSE said.
