How regional markets fared in year 2011

                                  Market Index     % Gain / Loss in 2011

1.  Philippines         PSEi                     +3.72%
2.  Indonesia           JKSE                    +2.53%
3.  Malaysia             KLCI                    -0.18%
4.  New Zealand      NZX50                  -1.04%
5.  South Korea      KOSPI                  -11.80%
6.  Australia           S&P/ASX200         -15.23%
7.  Singapore          STI                      -18.22%
8.  Japan                NIKKEI                 -18.68%
9.  Hong Kong        HSI                       -21.34%
10.  Taiwan              TAIEX                   -21.64%
11.  China                SSEC                   -22.90%
12.  India                 BSESN                 -24.83%         

Coming next week on 'first' trading day of 2012, the South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, India and Indonesia stock exchanges reopen on Monday.
Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam on Tuesday and
China, Japan , New Zealand and Thailand on Wednesday.

Trading Hours on Christmas and New Year Day

Since Christmas and New Year day fall on Sunday in 2011 and 2012, following day (Monday) will be closed for some stock exchanges, below are some exchanges in Asian countries remain open on Monday (Dec. 26, 2011 and Jan. 2, 2012)

Trading Hours on Day after Christmas Day (Dec. 26, 2011)
and
day after New Year's Day (Jan.2, 2012)

Stock Exchange	Closing Hour (at local time)
Australia	Closed on Dec. 26, 2011 (Monday)  and Jan. 2, 2012 (Monday)
China	Open on Dec. 26, 2011 (Monday)  but closed on Jan. 2, 2012 (Monday)
Hong Kong	Closed on Dec. 26, 2011 (Monday)  and Jan. 2, 2012 (Monday)
India	Open on Dec. 26, 2011 (Monday)  and Jan. 2, 2012 (Monday)
Indonesia	Closed on Dec. 26, 2011 (Monday)  but open on Jan. 2, 2012 (Monday)
Japan	Open on Dec. 26, 2011 (Monday)  and Jan. 2, 2012 (Monday)
Malaysia	Closed on Dec. 26, 2011 (Monday)  and Jan. 2, 2012 (Monday)
New Zealand	Closed on Dec. 26, 2011 (Monday)  and Jan. 2, 2012 (Monday)
Philippines	Open on Dec. 26, 2011 (Monday)  and Jan. 2, 2012 (Monday)
Singapore	Closed on Christmas Day  and Jan. 2, 2012 (Monday)
South Korea	Open on Dec. 26, 2011 (Monday)  and Jan. 2, 2012 (Monday)
Taiwan	Open on Dec. 26, 2011 (Monday)  and Jan. 2, 2012 (Monday)
Thailand	Open on Dec. 26, 2011 (Monday)  but closed on Jan. 2, 2012 (Monday)
Vietnam	Open on Dec. 26, 2011 (Monday)  but closed on Jan. 2, 2012 (Monday)

Note:
Since Christmas is not an official holiday in some Asians' countries like China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Therefore, trading hours will be traded as usual on Christmas Day for these countries unless this day falls on weekend. 

Trading Hours on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve

If eve of Christmas or New Year Day fall on Saturday or Sunday, then the chart below does not apply otherwise it will be a guide to know which exchanges in Asian countries will be opened or closed.
Hope this help. 

 Trading Hours

on Christmas Eve
and
New Year Eve

Stock Exchange	Closing Hour (at local time)
Australia	Closed at 2.10 pm (Sydney time,GMT + 10) on Christmas Eve  and New Year Eve (Dec.31)
China	Trading as usual on Christmas Eve   and New Year Eve (Dec.31)
Hong Kong	Closed at 12:30 pm (GMT + 8) on Christmas Eve and New Year Eve (Dec.31)
India	Trading as usual on Christmas Eve    and New Year Eve (Dec.31)
Indonesia	Closed on Christmas Eve and New Year Eve (Dec. 31)
Japan	Trading as usual on Christmas Eve  but trading will be closed on New Year Eve (Dec. 31)
Malaysia	Trading as usual on Christmas Eve   but trading will be closed on New Year Eve (Dec. 31)
New Zealand	Closed at 4 pm (GMT + 12) on Christmas Eve   and New Year Eve (Dec. 31)
Philippines	Closed on Christmas Eve and New Year Eve (Dec. 31)
Singapore	Closed at 12:30 pm (GMT + 8) on Christmas Eve and New Year Eve (Dec.31)
South Korea	Trading as usual on Christmas Eve  but trading will be closed all day on New Year Eve (Dec. 31)
Taiwan	Trading as usual on Christmas Eve  and New Year Eve (Dec.31)
Thailand	Trading as usual on Christmas Eve   but trading will be closed all day on New Year Eve (Dec. 31)
Vietnam	Trading as usual on Christmas Eve   and New Year Eve (Dec.31)

* Note:
Since Christmas is not an official holiday in some Asians' countries like China, India, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Therefore, trading hours will be traded as usual on Christmas Eve and Christmas for these countries unless this day falls on weekend.

ASEAN stock exchanges eye cross-border trading in 2012

HANOI, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Stock exchanges in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand delayed a plan to set up electronic trading links to attract investment and raise liquidity, saying it would be done in 2012.

The plan, set to be finalised this year, will be joined byexchanges in the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam at a later date. The proposal to launch cross-border trading was initially set to be in place in 2010, but has already been delayed for reasons such as the development of a new platform.

Singapore Exchange and Bursa Malaysia will link up in June 2012, followed by Thailand in August, a joint statement said after the heads of the seven stocks exchanges met in Hanoi on Friday.

The Philippines will come in at a later date while Indonesia and two markets in Vietnam will announce their participation pending approval from their regulatory bodies, according to the statement issued late on Friday.

The meeting also agreed to launch the ASEAN Trading Link in June 2012, it added. The 10-country Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) wants to establish an economic community modelled on the European Union by 2015 and the market venture will support one of its aims, allowing capital to move more freely between states.

The ASEAN Trading Link is aimed to electronically interconnect the participating markets and facilitate cross-border order trading seamlessly. The seven exchanges of Southeast Asian have a combined capitalisation of about $2.4 trillion and were the darlings of emerging market investors in 2010.

Source: Yahoo

Trading Hours on Christmas Day and New Year's Day

Trading Hours on Christmas Day
and
New Year's Day (Jan.1, 201x)

Stock Exchange	Closing Hour (at local time)
Australia	Closed on Christmas Day  and New Year's Day *
China	Trading as usual on Christmas Day *  but  closed on New Year's Day
Hong Kong	Closed on Christmas Day  and New Year's Day *
India	Closed on Christmas Day  and New Year's Day*
Indonesia	Closed on Christmas Day  and New Year's Day *
Japan	Trading as usual on Christmas Day * but closed on New Year's Day
Malaysia	Closed on Christmas Day  and New Year's Day *
New Zealand	Closed on Christmas Day  and New Year's Day *
Philippines	Closed on Christmas Day and New Year's Day
Singapore	Closed on Christmas Day  and New Year's Day *
South Korea	Closed on Christmas Day  and closed on New Year's Day
Taiwan	Trading as usual on Christmas Day *  but closed on New Year's Day
Thailand	Trading as usual on Christmas Day * but   closed on New Year's Day
Vietnam	Trading as usual on Christmas Day *  but closed on New Year's Day

* Note:
Since Christmas is not an official holiday in some Asians' countries like China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Therefore, trading hours will be traded as usual on Christmas Day for these countries unless this day falls on weekend. 

* Note: For Asians' countries (see above) celebrate Christmas Day and New Year's Day, if these days fall on Sunday, then the following day (e.g. Monday) will be closed.

Indonesia to Reintroduce Stock Options Trading Next Year

The Indonesia Stock Exchange plans to reintroduce stock-option trading next year to lure investors as it aims to double market capitalization by 2015, according to a director at the bourse.

Options may begin as soon as the end of June, pending the completion of a new trading system and a revision to rules on derivatives, Friderica Widyasari Dewi, director of business development at PT Bursa Efek Indonesia, which runs the exchange, said in an interview.

The bourse introduced options in 2004, then shut them down in 2006 because of weak demand, Widyasari said. Trading was thin partly because the bourse capped profits on options to keep volatility in check, she said.

“We don’t want to make the same mistake again,” Widyasari said in Jakarta on Oct. 12. “We will focus on foreign investors and institutional investors, who have a need for hedging.”

New products may help the bourse, Southeast Asia's third- largest after Singapore and Malaysia with a market capitalization of $369 billion, attract more investors. Indonesia’s economy is forecast by the government to expand this year at the fastest pace since 1996, boosting demand from companies for funding.

Overseas investors bought a net $1.91 billion of Indonesian equities this year through yesterday, down from $1.96 billion in the same period last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

More ...

Philippine bourse starts extended trading

MANILA, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Trades at the Philippine Stock Exchange will be extended by an hour beginning Monday, part of a two-phase programme by the bourse as it prepares to link up with other Southeast Asian markets.

Trading will now run up to 1:00 p.m. [0500 GMT] in the local bourse, which has one of the shortest trading sessions in Asia. Previously, the stock market was open only for 2-1/2 hours, from 9:30 a.m. up to 12 noon [0130 to 0400 GMT], excluding a 10-minute run off period.

Trading hours will be stretched further from January 2, 2012 with trading to run up to 3:30 p.m. [0730 GMT], including a break from 12pm to 1:30 p.m. [0530 GMT].

Philippine stocks have fallen about 5 percent this year, mirroring falls in other regional equities markets, as concerns over the European debt crisis and a faltering U.S. economy prompt investors to trim risky investments in emerging markets.

Cross-border trading among Southeast Asian markets is set to be launched in March 2012. The Thai bourse , Singapore Exchange , Bursa Malaysia and the PSE are currently working to set up a regional trading network.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations plans to transform itself into a unified trading bloc with free flow of capital by 2015.

The region also includes Indonesia, Cambodia, Brunei Darussalam, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. (Reporting by Erik dela Cruz; Editing by Rosemarie Francisco)

Source: Yahoo

Vietnam Stock Exchange to extend trading hours to 2:30pm in February 2012

The HCM City Stock Exchange (STC) or HoChiMinh Stock Exchange (HOSE) has recently unveiled the plan of trading hour extension to afternoon which is expected to take effect from February 2012.

The announcement forwarded to member securities companies, Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD) and appointed paying banks indicates later opening hours of morning sessions at 9:00 AM rather than 8:30 AM as presently.

The total trading time of two hours and a half in the morning for opening order-matching, continuous order-matching 1 and put-through transactions still remains unchanged.

The morning sessions will open at 9:00AM (GMT+7) to 11:30AM (GMT+7) and close for lunch break from 11:30AM (GMT +7) to 1:00PM (GMT+7).

The afternoon sessions will open at 1:00PM (GMT+7) and close at 2:30 PM (GMT+7) including continuous order-matching 2 (1:00PM to 2:00PM), closing order-matching (2:00PM to 2:15PM) and negotiated transactions (1:00PM to 2:30PM).

The HCM City Stock Exchange (STC) has recently unveiled the plan of trading hour extension to afternoon which is expected to take effect since February 2012.

The announcement forwarded to member securities companies, Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD) and appointed paying banks indicates later opening hours of morning sessions at 9:00 AM rather than 8:30 AM as presently.

The total trading time of two hours and a half in the morning for opening order-matching, continuous order-matching 1 and put-through transactions still remains unchanged.

The afternoon sessions will open at 1:00PM and close at 2:30 PM including continuous order-matching 2 (1:00PM to 2:00PM), closing order-matching (2:00PM to 2:15PM) and negotiated transactions (1:00PM to 2:30PM).

The trading hours have been adjusted with a view to be in line with the regional standard practices as are in China, India, Indonesia, Taiwan, Philippines, New Zealand, etc. With this in view, it is expected to make continuous order-matching in afternoon sessions longer in attempt to strengthen market liquidity.

Also, the plan suggests no newly-placed orders, amendment and cancellation of matched orders as well as put-through advertising and settlement during the midday trading break.

Additional regulations will also be imposed namely all-day trading price band, determination of reference price, order cancellation and amendment.

By the way from Feb. 6, 2012, the VN30 Index, which make up 80% of HOSE's market cap and 60% of HOSE's turnover will be officially launched by Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE), along with the VN Index. This Index is a free-float adjusted, market cap-weighted index of 30 stocks that have the highest market cap and liquidity on HOSE.

VN-30 index will be included real estate developer like Becamex Infrastructure Development, Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Kinh Bac City Development, Ocean Group, PetroVietnam Finance and Tan Tao Investment Industry.

Source: Intellasia

Singapore Exchange (SGX) commence all-day stock trading from Aug 1, 2011

The Singapore Exchange (SGX), Asia’s second-largest listed bourse operator, cancelled its midday lunch break from Monday (Aug 1, 2011) and started all-day trading w.e.f. today.

With this change, SGX's securities market will trade non- stop between 9am and 5pm (GMT+8), without taking a lunch break from 12.30pm to 2pm (GMT+8) and this will allow investors to respond faster to regional market movements and news.

SGX had originally planned to scrap the lunch break from March but delayed the move because of opposition from some traders.

Continuous all-day trading will enhance Singapore's competitiveness as an international financial centre.

The implementation will allow investors, especially those who trade pan-Asian securities, to respond to regional market movements and news flow.

Meanwhile, the SGX derivatives market has already trading continuously.

The continuous all-day securities trading will provide more avenues for participants to invest, hedge and arbitrage their investments.

Singapore Exchange (SGX) member firms will offer retail investors various ways to execute orders.
These include online trading services, the use of central dealing desks, and the use of mobile technology by trading representatives to execute orders when they are off-premises.

Between 12:30pm and 2pm, formally the lunch break hours have made a turnover about S$110 million, accounting for 6.4 per cent of the day's trading.

At the end of first day of non-stop trading, Singapore (SGX) chalked up a turnover of 1.6 billion, nearly 1.5 times the daily average of 979 million shares traded in June.

While the extended hours are a boon for investors, analysts say it will take some time before the change is felt.

Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) will extend trading hours by Oct.1, 2011

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) will extend trading hours starting October 1 to try to boost trading volumes and match the hours of other Southeast Asian exchanges it will be linked with next year. This latest move by the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) will boost turnover in the undersized market.

Trading now lasts just two hours and 40 minutes and closes at midday which is the shortest trading hours in the Asian market.

The extension from Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) will come in 2 phases. Coming October, trading will extend from the current 9:30 a.m. to 12pm schedule to 9:30 to 1 p.m.

And starting from January 1 next year, the trading floor will be open between 9:30am and 12pm, and then from 1:30 to 3:30pm. The extension of trading hours will help smaller brokers by keeping its floor open and it will also give brokers some time for settlement, clearing and dealing with their own clients.

Thursday's announcement was the second move this year by the exchange to generate higher trading volumes.

The stock exchange decided it needed to extend trading hours to allow volume to increase rather than wait for volume before extending.

This is not the first time the stock exchange has extended its hours. Back in 2002 it was reverted to the current schedule in less than a year after volumes failed to pick up much.

In April, it ordered the 30 large companies making up its composite index to raise the proportion of their freely traded shares from 10 percent to 12 percent by September.

It said those that failed to comply with the higher free-float requirement would be excluded from the composite index.

There are just 249 companies listed on the Philippine stock market, and total daily turnover averaged only five billion pesos (US$116.3 million) this year, according to the exchange's website.

Fewer than half a million Filipinos, or 0.5 percent of the population, owned and traded stocks last year, it said.

But those few investors have done well recently.

The composite index rose to an all-time high of 4,439.61 points on July 5, up 5.68 percent this year after a rise of 37.6 percent in 2010.

Singapore Exchange (SGX) will commence all-day stock trading from Aug 1

The Singapore Exchange (SGX), Asia's second-largest listed bourse operator, said yesterday that it will do away with the midday trading break on its securities market from Aug 1, 2011.

With the change, SGX's securities market will trade non- stop between 9am and 5pm (GMT+8), without taking a break from 12.30pm to 2pm (GMT+8), so as to allow investors to respond faster to regional market movements and news.

SGX had originally planned to scrap the lunch break from March but delayed the move because of opposition from some traders.

Continuous all-day trading will enhance Singapore's competitiveness as an international financial centre.

The implementation will allow investors, especially those who trade pan-Asian securities, to respond to regional market movements and news flow.

Meanwhile, the SGX derivatives market is already trading continuously.

In Asia, the Korea Exchange (KRX), India's National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Australia Stock Exchange (ASX)  have already embraced continuous all-day trading.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. have already announced plans to increase trading hours.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) will extend trading hours by 30 minutes in November after postponing the move in anticipation of power shortages in the summer following the March 11 disasters.

The TSE will implement the new hours, which will effectively mean a shorter lunch break, from November 21, it said in a statement Tuesday.


The morning trading session for stocks, which opens at 9 am (GMT+9), will be extended to 11:30 am from the current 11 am. The afternoon trading session, from 12:30 pm to 3 pm, will remain unchanged.


In Mar. 7, 2011 (Monday), Hong Kong Exchange has already implemented new trading hours as follows:

                                                Current            Effective Mar. 7, 2011
Pre-opening Session      09:30 to 10:00am       09:00 to 09:30am
Morning Session            10:00 to 12:30pm        09:30 to 12:00pm
Afternoon Session          02:30 to 04:00pm       01:30 to 04:00pm

The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. cited the need to strengthen competitiveness and enhance convenience for investors.

The continuous all-day securities trading will provide more avenues for participants to invest, hedge and arbitrage their investments.

As for Indonesia Stock Exchange (JSX), JSX is seeking approval from the country’s regulators to begin market trading hours an hour earlier around this month to align itself with other Asian markets.

Once trading is continuous all day, Singapore Exchange (SGX) member firms will offer retail investors various ways to execute orders.

These include online trading services, the use of central dealing desks, and the use of mobile technology by trading representatives to execute orders when they are off-premises.

Common trading in Asean bourses in 2012

Petaling Jaya (The Star/ANN) - Bursa Malaysia Bhd, The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Singapore Exchange (SGX) and the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) have appointed SunGard as the technology provider for their intra-Asean cross-border order routing and trading platform that is expected to go live in the first quarter of next year.

In a statement, Malaysian stock exchange operator, Bursa Malaysia, said the four exchanges had made progress toward achieving inter-connectivity between their respective markets as part of the broader Asean Exchanges collaboration.

SunGard would electronically connect the markets of participating exchanges and allow investors and brokerages to access multiple markets via a single connection.

Bursa chief executive officer Tajuddin Atan said the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) trading link was an important development in enabling greater Asean investment mobility among intermediaries namely the brokerages and information vendors.

"This forms an integral part of the various initiatives in achieving the objective of the Asean Exchanges to promote Asean capital market growth," he said.

PSE president and chief executive officer Hans B. Sicat said the Asean trading link would facilitate global trade especially for retail investors seeking a bigger exposure in a fast growing Asean market.

SGX chief executive officer Magnus Bocker said it was pleased with the development of the Asean trading link which would enable investors to easily trade across markets in this region.

"The combined gross domestic product growth of which is expected to average 6% annually across the Asean countries over the next five years. We expect this link to drive greater liquidity and investment mobility in Asean," he said.

SET president Charamporn Jotikasthira said the tie-ups with SunGard was another milestone for the Asean link project.

"However, technology alone is not sufficient to make this project a success. The Asean exchanges will work together on marketing initiatives to promote the Asean link and asset class.

"Among others, there will be a networking event to promote cross-border partnerships among Asean brokers in Phuket in July," he said.

SunGard's Asia-Pacific managing director Nasser Khodri said the initiative represented a key milestone on the road to an integrated Asean capital market and they were delighted to be chosen as a partner in the alliance.

Source:  Common trading in Asean bourses in 2012

Singapore Exchange (SGX) will implement all-day trading from third quarter of this year

Singapore Exchange (SGX) will introduce continuous all day trading from 9am to 5pm (no more lunch break from 12:30pm to 02:00pm) in the third quarter of  this year instead of Mar. 1, 2011 as earlier announced. In January, the SGX said that the 90-minute trading break between 12.30pm and 2pm would be scrapped on March 1.

SGX is pushing back the deadline so it can ensure that investors are prepared for a change that will significantly impact the way stockbroking is done. The bourse opearator did not specify exactly when during the Jul. 1 to Sept. 30 third quarter the change will kick in.

The implementation will allow investors, especially those who trade pan-Asian securities, to respond to regional market movements and news flow.

Meanwhile, the SGX derivatives market is already trading continuously.

In Asia, the Korea Exchange (KRX), India's National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Australia Stock Exchange (ASX)  have already embraced continuous all-day trading.

More recently, the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. have already announced plans to increase trading hours. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd., operator of Asia’s third-biggest stock market, said it will extend its trading hours from March 7, 2011 tentatively.

Effective Mar. 7, 2011 (Monday), Hong Kong Exchange will implement new trading hours as follows:

                                                  Current           Effective Mar. 7, 2011
Pre-opening Session      09:30 to 10:00am       09:00 to 09:30am
Morning Session            10:00 to 12:30pm        09:30 to 12:00pm
Afternoon Session          02:30 to 04:00pm       01:30 to 04:00pm

The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. cited the need to strengthen competitiveness and enhance convenience for investors.

The continuous all-day securities trading will provide more avenues for participants to invest, hedge and arbitrage their investments.

As for Indonesia Stock Exchange (JSX), JSX is seeking approval from the country’s regulators to begin market trading hours an hour earlier around July 2011 to align itself with other Asian markets.

To build a global capital market, Singapore Exchange (SGX) said that the move towards continuous trading is timely.

It added that based on the feedback received through public consultation, there is broad-based support from investors and the brokerage community.

Meanwhile, Securities Investors' Association of Singapore (SIAS) has already welcomed SGX's initiative to extend its trading hours over the lunch hour.

SGX said it is working closely with the brokerage community to facilitate a smooth transition.

Trading hours on Chinese (Lunar) New Year Eve

Trading Hours on Chinese New Year Eve

Stock Exchange	Closing Hour (at local time)
China	Will be closed *
Hong Kong	Will be closed at 12:30pm*
Indonesia	Will be closed at 04:00pm*
Malaysia	Will be closed at 12:30pm*
Singapore	Will be closed at 12:30pm*
South Korea	Will be closed*
Taiwan	Will be closed *
Vietnam	Will be closed *

* Note:
Since Chinese New Year (in Lunar Calendar) is not an official holiday in some Asians' countries  like Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines and Thailand. Therefore, trading hours for these countries will be traded as usual on Chinese(Lunar) New Year's Eve unless this day falls on weekend.
Click on 'Country ' as shown above for 'Chinese New Year' holiday's schedule.