A whole array of questions has been raised since the announcement that the lunch break at the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) will be shortened to one hour from March next year, despite robust opposition from some local brokers and professional organisations.
Actually, HKEx has been moving there in increments. Since March 7, the exchange has opened 30 minutes earlier, and cut the two-hour lunch by half an hour.
It is understood that the extension is intended to match international practice. Hong Kong trades only five hours a day, with only Shanghai, Shenzhen, Taipei and Manila trading for fewer hours. The London, New York and Frankfurt markets trade for between 6.5 hours and 8.5 hours a day. Meanwhile, closer to home, the Korea exchange, India's National Stock Exchange and the Australian Securities Exchange already trade non-stop through the working day, without any lunch break. The Tokyo Stock Exchange will increase its trading hours by 30 minutes on November 21 while Singapore Exchange has decided to drop its 90-minute lunch break starting August 1.
Nevertheless, several major broker industry associations in Hong Kong recently opposed further moves to cut into the lunch break and said that the extended hours already implemented had not raised turnover. Others see the move as both beneficial and necessary. Many industry observers and participants are encouraged.
Mark Laudi, CEO of InvestorCentral.org, which covers much of the Asia-Pacific region, explains: 'Exchanges previously closed for lunch because stock brokers and traders were physically present on the floor and simply needed a break. On some markets, trading hours were also shortened to allow traders to physically walk over to other trading floors to trade there. But with electronic trading, these 'must-have' breaks have become 'nice-to-have'.'
Hong Kong's main rival, the Singapore Exchange, is doing away with the lunch break from August 1, which means the market will be open from 9am to 5pm weekdays.