Starting from November 5th, Japan will extend the stock trading hours to a total of 5.5 hours.

A few days ago, the New York Stock Exchange in the USA announced plans to extend the trading hours of its all-electronic exchange, NYSE Arca, for US stocks to 22 hours per working day, to be implemented after regulatory approval.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange will extend the stock trading hours.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange (referred to as 'TSE') will extend the stock trading hours to 5.5 hours starting from November 5th. The closing time will be delayed by 30 minutes to 3:30 pm. This is the first extension of trading hours by TSE in 70 years since 1954. This move will increase the possibility of resuming trading after system failures and aims to provide a more convenient environment for overseas investors.

The revised trading hours will be from 9:00 am to 11:30 am for the morning session, followed by a 1-hour lunch break and the afternoon session from 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm. Compared to major overseas markets, the total of 5.5 hours matches Hong Kong but falls short of 6.5 hours in New York and 8.5 hours in London.

To enhance the transparency of closing prices, the Tokyo Stock Exchange will also introduce a 'closing call auction' system. In the final 5 minutes before the close of trading, only buy and sell orders to determine the closing price will be accepted. During this period, investors can submit buy and sell orders at specified prices, but no actual transactions or price changes will occur. The closing price will be determined at 3:30 pm based on order conditions.

Earlier, Japanese media reported that Japanese stock brokerage firms are using promotional activities through online videos and branches to inform customers of the investment opportunities that this move may bring. Yamagata Hikari, the head of online trading at the Japanese securities firm Iwai Cosmo Securities, said: Extending trading hours will provide more opportunities for investors, so they need to understand the changes at the afternoon close. The extension of time will also benefit brokerage firms as it may increase trading volume and provide other business opportunities.

Reports say that the Tokyo Exchange hopes to extend the time to urge listed companies to review their practices of releasing information after the close. Currently, nearly 80% of companies will disclose financial reports and other important information after 3 p.m., believing that this reduces the trading volatility of the company's stocks. However, the Tokyo Stock Exchange hopes that listed companies will disclose such information in advance according to the principle of timely disclosure of key information to investors.

The NYSE will also extend trading hours.

On October 25th, Eastern Time, the New York Stock Exchange issued an announcement stating plans to extend the trading hours of its fully electronic exchange, NYSE Arca, to 22 hours every working day, pending regulatory approval. This latest '22-hour' trading system will apply to all US-listed stocks, ETFs, and closed-end funds.

The NYSE stated that the extended trading hours will start at 1:30 a.m. Eastern Time on weekdays (which corresponds to 1:30 p.m. Beijing Time during North American Daylight Saving Time) and will continue until 11:30 p.m.

In comparison, the current trading hours of the New York Stock Exchange are from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time, with the normal trading hours of heavy volume transactions from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time.

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in all-day trading in the U.S. market. The extension of trading hours by the New York Stock Exchange is in line with this trend. In May 2023, the U.S. internet brokerage Robinhood launched a "24/5 trading" service, open from 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Sundays to 8 p.m. on Fridays. Meanwhile, the global cryptocurrency market truly achieves all-day trading, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

NYSE Arca is an important platform playing a significant role in the global financial markets, used for trading ETFs and over 8000 U.S.-listed securities. It is a subsidiary of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). According to the New York Stock Exchange, as of this year, the daily trading volume of ETFs on the Arca Exchange is approximately $27.7 billion (around 200 billion yuan), while the trading volume of company stocks is approximately $21.8 billion (around 150 billion yuan).

Kevin Tyrrell, the market head of the New York Stock Exchange, stated that the extension of trading hours to 22 hours a day, 5 days a week for USA stock trading highlights the strength of the US capital markets and the increasing global demand for US-listed securities. As the guardian of the US capital markets, the NYSE is pleased to lead exchange-based trading among investors across different time zones globally.

The NYSE plans to submit updated rules to the US SEC for extending trading hours. Trading during the extended hours will be settled through US depositories and clearing firms.

Editor/rice