Tokyo Stock Exchange considers trading hours by 30 min . to renew

File photo taken on October 23, 2020, shows the Tokyo Stock Exchange. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

The Tokyo Stock Exchange plans to extend regular trading hours by an additional 30 minutes to give investors more time to resolve issues such as a system failure, a source familiar with the matter said Friday.

The first extension of closing hours since 1954 is expected to occur in three years’ time and will close at 3:30pm instead of 3pm, according to the source.

The envisaged move would come nearly a year after the world’s third-largest stock exchange went silent for a day on October 1, also suspending all trading of stocks listed on the stock exchanges in Sapporo, Nagoya and Fukuoka.

The Tokyo stock exchange is currently open for five hours a day from 9am, shorter than its international counterparts, including New York, which lasts six and a half hours.

In May, the Tokyo Stock Exchange said it would set up a panel to discuss a possible extension of the trading day.