The Tokyo Stock Exchange will extend trading hours by 30 minutes in November after postponing the move in anticipation of power shortages in the summer following the March 11 disasters. The TSE will implement the new hours, which will effectively mean a shorter lunch break, from November 21, it said in a statement Tuesday. The morning trading session for stocks, which opens at 9 am (0000 GMT), will be extended to 11:30 am from the current 11 am.
The afternoon trading session, from 12:30 pm to 3 pm, will remain unchanged. The plan to give market players more trading time and spur overall activity at the bourse was due to begin in May but was put on hold due to quake and tsunami damage sustained by the Fukushima Daiichi plant and other facilities.