The Times reports today that the Investment Association and the Association for Financial Markets in Europe have written to stock markets across Europe to ask them to review their trading hours and to make them consistent with the proposal for London.
Current trading hours: 8 AM - 4.30 PM
Proposed hours: 9 AM - 4 PM
By comparison:
NYSE: 9.30 AM - 4 PM (ET) Tokyo: 9 AM - 3 PM (closed for lunch 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM) Hong Kong: opening hours 9 AM - 9.30 AM, morning 9.30 AM - 12 PM, extended morning session/lunchbreak 12PM - 1PM, afternoon 1PM - 4 PM.
What do you think of this - would you be happy with reduced trading hours on the LSE?
Or should they just close for lunch?
P.S. if you’re interested in reading more about how a stock exchange works, check out our blog:
At the end of the day f*!k trading, these are people we are talking about, and if it has a huge negative effect on their health and well being, then it should totally be reduced.
Let’s not forget that the point of finance (and most of human activities) is to facilitate a better life for people, not a worse one.
Ye have to agree with @Dave here surely they can overlap the staff and take an hour off just not all at the same time. Market’s should be running all the time. If you want to trade at whatever time then you have to trade at that time. I struggle to even work out what modern-day traders actually do at the exchanges. Hopefully someone can enlighten me. Couldn’t they just be sitting at a computer? Standing up all day no wonder they’re tired
Edit: Didn’t know about the Asian exchanges breaking for lunch I’ve never heard of it going bad or even heard of it so it’s doing the job
