No proposal to extend trading beyond 1530 hrs: NSE chief

Facing opposition from a section of brokers for advancing opening of the stock market by an hour, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) today said it would not allow trading beyond scheduled 1530 hours.

"There is unanimity in the market that we ought not extend trading beyond 3:30 P.M.," NSE managing director Ravi Narain told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

Within a day of announcing advancement of opening to 0900 hours from December 18, NSE along with India's oldest stock exchange BSE deferred implementation of the proposal to January 4 to give more time to the brokerages to align their operations.

Talking about the problems on extending trading hours beyond 1530 hours, Narain said, "The challenges in extending beyond 1530 hours are more significant compared to challenges in opening earlier...RTGS, bank office operations of brokerage will get stretched."

The NSE, he added, was working closely with market participants to facilitate opening of the stock exchange at 0900 hours from January 4.

Earlier in October, the brokers had opposed the proposal of SEBI to keep the stock markets open from 0900 to 1700 hours saying the move would not help much in increasing the trading volume in the country.