Photo/Illutration The Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo's Chuo Ward (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The Tokyo Stock Exchange extended its daily trading hours by a half-hour for the first extension in 70 years to better deal with future system glitches and possibly expand trading volume.

Beginning Nov. 5, Japan’s largest bourse will be open between 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. and between 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on weekdays for a total of five hours and a half.

Until last week, the afternoon session closed at 3 p.m.

It was the first extension since the closing time was pushed back from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. in 1954.

The latest change came in response to a massive system failure in October 2020, in which the TSE was forced to suspend transactions the entire day.

The 30-minute extension is expected to increase the chances that normal trading can resume before the closing time even after the exchange is shut down.

Hiromi Yamaji, group chief executive officer of Japan Exchange Group Inc., the parent of Tokyo Stock Exchange Inc., said the new setup allows the bourse to “get up and running again as quickly as possible in the event of a system failure.”

He also expressed expectations that the extension will increase trading volume.

Still, many industry officials remain skeptical about positive effects because the new trading hours are still shorter than other major bourses around the world.

Investors can trade shares for eight hours and a half on the London Stock Exchange per day and for six hours and a half on the New York Stock Exchange.

In Asia, the Singapore Exchange is open for seven hours and the Korea Exchange for six hours and a half.

“The trading volume is not expected to dramatically increase only with a 30-minute extension,” said Atsushi Kamio, a senior researcher at Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd.

Akira Warita, president of Matsui Securities Co., said an uptick in turnover is “vanishingly unlikely.”

The longer trading hours will prompt some companies to delay the announcement of their financial statements.

Of the companies that close their books in March, 30 percent said they will release their earnings results after the market closes at 3:30 p.m. after Nov. 5, according to the TSE.

The TSE has called on listed companies to disclose important corporate information that can influence investors’ decisions as soon as possible.

But companies tend to announce financial statements and other information after the market closes to avoid a possible adverse impact on their share prices.

Kohei Onishi, a senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., said companies that release earnings results before the market closes are currently limited to automakers, trading houses and some other industries.

He said the timing of the announcements should be more diversified to make it easier for investors to digest financial statements and factor them into their decisions.

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