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Enoch Yiu

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) will push ahead with talks on extending stock market trading hours by releasing a discussion paper, even as it faces brokers’ concerns over a longer trading time and cancellation of the trading lunch break, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.
The paper may well pave the way for the first change to the city’s market opening time in 14 years. The bourse operator would first initiate the discussion paper due to the mixed reaction to the suggested change, the sources said.
The paper would outline the pros and cons of longer hours and allow for public discussion, the sources told the South China Morning Post, and it would not include concrete proposals for new opening times.
If the discussion paper gained supportive feedback, HKEX would later issue a public consultation paper to propose new trading hours for the cash market, said one source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
HKEX, which runs one of the world’s largest fundraising markets, currently allows trading from 9.30am to 4pm on weekdays, with a one-hour lunch break. An extension of trading hours may mean the bourse would open earlier or close later, the source said, adding it was not actively discussing a cancellation of the lunch break.
In July, HKEX and the Securities and Futures Commission confirmed to the SCMP that they were exploring a trading hour extension, but did not give details. This came after both Nasdaq and the London Stock Exchange announced plans to extend their trading hours later this year.
The discussion has already led many brokers in Hong Kong to express concerns about high costs and heavy workloads for the city’s more than 500 stock brokerage firms.
“As other markets around the world look at it, there is pressure for Hong Kong to review it as well, but the impact and feasibility on the industry also need to be carefully examined,” said Robert Lee Wai-wang, a lawmaker for the financial services sector and chairman of Grand Finance Group.
“Hastily rushing into this without thorough consultation with key stakeholders would not be helpful for our overall competitiveness,” he added.


Another source said any change to trading hours would only be implemented in phases, as it would affect a wide range of market participants, including banks, listed companies and investors. HKEX would also need to decide how to arrange the Stock Connect schemes with the mainland markets.
A spokesman for HKEX said the bourse would provide further updates in due course.
“HKEX is committed to enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness as an international financial centre and regularly reviews opportunities to improve market accessibility to meet evolving investor demand,” the spokesman said in a statement to the SCMP.
Pressure has mounted on Hong Kong’s bourse operator to extend its sessions as global peers move forward with plans for lengthier hours.
Nasdaq – the US market home to tech giants such as Apple, Microsoft and Amazon – will expand its trading hours from 16 hours a day to 23 hours a day, five days per week, starting from December 6, according to its website.
The London Stock Exchange Group is also planning to launch London Stock Exchange 24, a new trading venue that will allow investors to continue trading some assets outside the main market’s regular hours.
Trading on the new venue, which will begin client testing before the end of 2026, will open at 5pm – 30 minutes after the main market closes – and continue overnight until shortly before the main market opens again at 8am, according to an official press release. The venue will briefly pause trading from 6.30pm to apply end-of-day processes.
HKEX currently trades for five and a half hours on weekdays, compared with four hours in both Shanghai and Shenzhen, five in Tokyo, six and a half in Toronto, eight and a half in London and 14 hours in Frankfurt.
The last change to Hong Kong’s stock trading hours was made in March 2012, when the exchange cut the market lunch break to one hour from one and a half hours. This followed a change a year prior, which opened the bourse 30 minutes earlier and cut the two-hour lunch break to 90 minutes.


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The discussion paper could pave the way for Hong Kong’s bourse operator to introduce longer opening times, helping it attract global investors


The discussion paper could pave the way for Hong Kong’s bourse operator to introduce longer opening times, helping it attract global investors.


.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The discussion paper could pave the way for Hong Kong’s bourse operator to introduce longer opening times, helping it attract global investors

The discussion paper could pave the way for Hong Kong’s bourse operator to introduce longer opening times, helping it attract global investors