Sebi rejects NSE’s proposal to extend stock market trading hours

National Stock Exchange MD and CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan said in an analyst call on Monday that Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has rejected the exchange’s proposal to increase trading time.

The NSE CEO said that Sebi had returned the exchange’s proposal due to a lack of consensus among the broker community. “So as of now, extended timeframe for trading, is shelved,” said Chauhan.

In February, the Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI), a body comprising trading members from leading exchanges, had given an in-principle approval to extend trading hours for index derivatives, with the caveat that operational hurdles needed to be sorted out before the move could become a reality.

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Another brokers association Bombay Stock Exchange Brokers’ Forum (BBF) was a lot more apprehensive about the move.

The SEBI had earlier said that there were divergent views among the broking community on the matter. The regulator had highlighted the need for downtime and maintenance between trading hours.

NSE’s proposal was to first extend the trading hours for index F&O from 6 p.m to 9 p.m. Later, the timings would get further extended to 11:30 p.m.