The Hong Kong stock market's benchmark Hang Seng Index is now updated every 15 seconds and its compiler is studying even faster updates to catch up with other stock markets around the world. But there is some division over the need for greater speed.
'If the index is updated too quickly, investors cannot read it clearly and it does not mean anything to them,' said Christopher Cheung Wah-fung, chairman of Christfund Securities.
But for investment banks, institutional investors and futures traders who use computer programs to trade derivative products, more frequent updates are regarded as necessary.
'The HSI is the benchmark indicator, and the more frequent the updates the better,' said Joseph Tong Tang, executive director of brokerage house Sun Hung Kai Financial. 'Since our company also trades futures and derivative products, we would like to see the index updated more frequently.'
Mark Konyn, chief executive of RCM Asia-Pacific, said he welcomed more updates even though they would not have an impact on the way he managed money.
Hani Shalabi, head of advanced execution services for Asia-Pacific at investment bank Credit Suisse, said faster updates might be welcome but were not critical. 'The index doesn't normally change much in 15 seconds, so it won't make a big difference to algorithmic index trading if the updating interval is changed to every second,' he said.