India’s market regulator shelves bid to extend derivative trading hours, stock exchange says

MUMBAI (Reuters) – India’s markets regulator has shelved a proposal by country’s largest stock exchange to extend trading hours for index derivatives, the exchange said in an analyst call.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) returned the National Stock Exchange (NSE) proposal since brokers and trading members in the equity market gave divergent views on the proposed extension.

“Currently, there is no plan to extend the timings as SEBI has returned our application because the stock brokers have not provided the feedback that SEBI wanted,” NSE CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan said in a post-earnings analyst call on Monday.

“So, as of now, the extended time frame (plan) is shelved.”

Last year, the NSE proposed evening sessions between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. IST, in addition to the regular trading hours of 9:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., to trade in index futures and options.

The market regulator, while examining the proposal, wanted exchanges and trading members to demonstrate system preparedness.

(Reporting by Jayshree P Upadhyay; Editing by Savio D’Souza)