The Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) proposal to extend trading hours in bourses has found some takers among market players, who expect trading beyond five-and-half hours will help revive the sagging trade volumes.
Sebi had last week sought opinion from various stakeholders on the proposed extension of trading hours in exchanges to align them with international markets.
"The Sebi proposal is certainly welcome. Early trading would give Indian investors an opportunity to trade on overnight developments in the US," DSE Executive Director H S Sidhu said.
In India, trading takes place for five-and-half hours in a single session between 9.55 am and 3.30 pm. In many of the international exchanges, trading in derivatives is conducted between 10 am and 3 pm and in a few cases, it goes up to 24 hours, according to the Sebi discussion paper.
"In a world where events are happening 24X7 and which have impact on portfolios, a larger trading window will help mitigate the risk better for portfolio managers, give more trading opportunity to traders and help keep the markets onshore. There is a real possibility of the market moving offshore if these needs are not met," ICICI Securities Executive Director Anup Bagchi said.