Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) will consider scrapping the one-hour midday break and extending stock market hours for the first time in more than a decade. In Hong Kong's local securities industry, there is pushback that it is unclear whether volume will jump just because hours are extended, while only staffing and IT burdens could grow.
As of the 24th local time, the Hong Kong market opens at 9:30 a.m., trades until noon, takes a one-hour break, and then reopens from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. If, as reviewed, the open is moved up 30 minutes to 9 a.m. and the lunch break is eliminated, the regular daily trading time would increase about 27%, from 5 hours 30 minutes to 7 hours. Bloomberg said HKEX is also discussing creating an evening session to overlap with the early U.S. market. However, the discussion is still at an early stage, with no finalized plan or implementation timeline. If carried out as planned, HKEX would extend trading hours for the first time in more than 10 years.
Trading hours have long been a contentious issue in Hong Kong. When HKEX tried to shorten what was then a two-hour lunch break in 2011, about 1,000 brokers and nearby restaurant workers took to the streets in protest. David Wong, honorary life president of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Professionals Association, who organized the protest at the time, also opposed this time, saying, "The manpower and resources required to make the change are too great to justify the outcome." Despite the backlash 15 years ago, HKEX pushed ahead and succeeded in reducing the break to the current one hour.
In the Central financial district, which symbolizes Hong Kong as an Asian financial hub, the one-hour lunch break is more than just time to eat. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) and others, local securities firm employees typically use this time to reconcile morning orders and executions and clear administrative backlogs before grabbing a simple meal such as wonton noodles or char siu rice at nearby eateries. Senior brokers and securities firm executives have lunch with investors to win new orders and exchange market information. In particular, unlike global megabanks that can split staff into multiple shifts, local small securities firms focused on Hong Kong and China stocks have such heavy workloads that the same staff often handle both the morning and afternoon sessions. Bloomberg noted that if trading hours are extended, large brokers that can split staffing could be far better positioned than such smaller firms.
HKEX is arguing strongly that Hong Kong must improve market access, including by extending trading hours, to continue strengthening its competitiveness as an international financial center. In fact, the Korea Exchange (KRX) is pushing a plan to nearly double daily trading hours to 12 hours. Indonesia and Taiwan are also reviewing extensions. Even the London Stock Exchange is preparing a separate night market, reflecting intensifying "time competition" among major exchanges. David Friedland, Asia-Pacific head at Interactive Brokers, told Bloomberg, "There is already demand for off-hours trading and longer hours, and extending trading hours increases the overlap with overseas investors."
However, in Hong Kong, it is not straightforward to calculate which markets would connect even if trading hours are extended. The New York Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange trade all day without a lunch break. By contrast, most major Asian exchanges in similar time zones to Hong Kong—Tokyo, Singapore, Shanghai, and Shenzhen—still have midday breaks. In particular, about 23% of Hong Kong's turnover comes from mainland Chinese investors buying and selling via Stock Connect (the Hong Kong–mainland cross-market transaction scheme). Since the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges currently close at lunchtime, unless the mainland exchanges move in tandem, even if Hong Kong alone opens at noon, mainland investors—the biggest players—would find it hard to participate at that time. To align with the U.S. market, a separate evening session, not merely extending the regular session, would be needed, requiring a much more multifaceted and in-depth review.
There is no guarantee that transactions will increase by as much as trading hours are extended. The Singapore Exchange scrapped its lunch break in 2011 but revived it in 2017 after the effect on volumes proved unclear. The Tokyo Stock Exchange pushed its close back by 30 minutes in 2024 but kept the one-hour lunch break. Some traders worried that during thin-liquidity evening hours, only speculative funds from other markets might pour in. Lyndon Chao, head of equities at the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA), said, "It could serve the interests of a small group of day traders and harm the broader soundness of the financial market," adding, "Escalating competition among markets is concerning."
Hong Kong market participants argued that cutting the expense of transactions, rather than keeping the market open longer, is more suitable for increasing volumes. Citing experts, Bloomberg predicted that "expanding cross-margining that nets cash and derivatives margins together and lowering transaction fees would revive trading evenly across all time slots." Thomas Yip, managing director at Gaoyu Securities, also said, "Reducing transaction costs or increasing the variety of derivatives would be more effective for improving competitiveness than extending trading hours." On the current review plan to eliminate the lunch break, Yip said it is "a nonessential, partial improvement."