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.
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