Sebi extends trading hours for SLB segment by over 2 hours till 5 pm

With a view to facilitate physical settlement of equity derivatives contracts, markets regulator Sebi on Friday extended the trading timings in securities lending and borrowing (SLB) segment by over two hours till 5 pm.

"It has been decided to permit stock exchanges to set their trading hours in the SLB Segment... between 9 AM and 5 PM," the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a circular.

Currently, trading is allowed in the segment from 9.55 am till 3.30 pm.

SLB mechanism allows short sellers to borrow securities for making deliveries.

The move is aimed at facilitating physical settlement of equity derivatives contracts.

According to the Sebi, the permission is subject to risk management system and infrastructure of stock exchanges and clearing corporations commensurate to the trading hours.

The decision comes after the markets watchdog in May permitted exchanges to extend the trading time in equity derivatives contracts by more than eight hours till almost midnight from October 1.

The extended timing is similar to the trading hours for commodity derivatives segment, which are presently fixed between 10 am and 11:55 pm.

The move was part of Sebi's efforts to enable integration of stocks and commodities trading on a single exchange.