The Government, stock exchange and stock brokers have strongly opposed the futures exchange's plan to extend trading hours for fear it will reopen the door to market manipulation.
The Hong Kong Futures Exchange wants to extend daily trading by 30 minutes as part of a package of proposals to counter a looming competitive threat from its Singapore counterpart.
Stock exchange chief executive Alec Tsui Yiu-wa said it would lobby the Government and Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) not to approve the move.
'The stock exchange believes that there is a close link between the trading of a cash market and that of its derivatives,' he said.
'The initial reason for synchronising the closing time of the cash and derivatives market was to avoid any possible market manipulation which might occur due to the closing time difference.' The two exchanges matched closing times at 4pm in February. Previously, the futures market closed at 4pm and the stock market at 3.55pm.
'We have seen a lot of possible manipulative activities with just five minutes difference between the two exchanges,' Hong Kong Stockbrokers Association chairman Dannis Lee Jor-hung said.
'What will happen when the difference is 30 minutes?' Mr Tsui said the stock exchange would not follow the futures exchange as stock brokers might have insufficient time to clear clients' cheques, meaning they would have to bear higher risks.
