Korea Exchange (KRX) will introduce a premarket and after-market starting in June, extending stock trading hours to a total of 12 hours.
Korea Exchange (KRX) said in a news release on the 13th that it is pushing a plan to extend trading hours, aiming to build a market capable of 24-hour transactions by the end of next year.
The exchange is reviewing a plan to operate a premarket from 7-8 a.m. and an after-market from 4-8 p.m. In this case, the market would open one hour earlier than the premarket opening time (8 a.m.) of alternative trading system (ATS) NEXTRADE (NXT).
The exchange explained that this is to quickly meet demand from domestic and foreign investors who want to reflect U.S. and European global market conditions in their portfolios early and to expand investment participation in the domestic stock market.
The exchange also plans to expand derivatives trading hours to 24 hours by the end of next year. Currently, derivatives can trade up to 19 hours a day, including the regular session (8:45 a.m.-3:45 p.m.) and the night session (6 p.m.-6 a.m. the following day).
Along with this, it will push to shorten the stock market settlement cycle from T+2, where settlement occurs two days after the trading day, to T+1, where settlement occurs the day after the transaction.
The exchange emphasized that longer trading hours are a global trend. According to the exchange, Arca, an exchange under the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in the United States, currently operates 16 hours of trading per day and is slated to launch 24-hour trading with Nasdaq in the second half. The London Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing are also reviewing the introduction of 24-hour trading.
The exchange said the moves by major global exchanges are a response to avoid falling behind in the cross-border liquidity competition in the securities market and, in particular, a strategy to absorb liquidity from retail investors in Asian countries such as Korea.
It added that as of the end of 2025, the amount of overseas stocks held by domestic investors reaches about 250 trillion won, and liquidity in the domestic market continues to flow out overseas.
Meanwhile, regarding concerns from labor circles about increased workload, it said it will limit orders from nationwide branches and allow orders only through headquarters and home trading service (HTS) and mobile trading service (MTS) to minimize the burden.
It added that for exchange-traded fund (ETF) liquidity providers (LPs), participation outside regular hours will be optional to reduce the burden, and measures will be prepared to minimize information technology (IT) development expense.