MCX seeks extension of trading hours beyond midnight

The country's biggest commodity exchange MCX has asked Forward Markets Commission (FMC) to consider extending trading hours beyond midnight in commodities like bullion and energy that have global reference.

At present, the domestic commodity exchanges open at 10 am and close at 11.30 pm in summer and 11.55 pm in winter during weekdays, while electronic trading continues round-the-clock in global bourses such as New York Metal Exchange (Nymex) and its division Comex.

"We have written to the FMC requesting for an extension of trading hours beyond midnight in commodities such as gold and silver that have international reference," MCX Managing Director and CEO Lamon Rutten told PTI.

Since prices of gold and crude oil traded on domestic exchanges take direct cues from global exchanges, there is no reason why exchanges here cannot have trading hours beyond 11.55 pm, he said, without revealing the exact hours of extension sought by the exchange.

Rutten said, "The longer hours will benefit Indian traders to take advantage of higher volatility in the global market. It will also help to have better co-relation between settlement price in the domestic market and global prices."

Recently, Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX), promoted by Indiabull-MMTC, asked the regulator to consider synchronising trade timing with international bourses.

The turnover of MCX, which has over 80 per cent market share, stood at Rs 28,38,399 crore in the first half of 2009-10.