Hong Kong traders cling to lunch break as exchange seeks to scrap it

By Kiuyan Wong and Charlotte Yang

 

Thousands of stock traders, brokers and other financial professionals in Hong Kong may soon lose their lunch hour — and some aren’t happy about it. 

 

A preliminary proposal by the city’s exchange to scrap the midday break and extend trading hours has drawn criticism, particularly from local firms, who question whether any boost in volumes would be enough to offset the burden of a longer work day. 

 

If adopted, the changes would mark the first trading extension by Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. in more than a decade, disrupting a fixture of the local market that many rely on to wrap up morning deals and pitch new business. Longer hours may also favor larger brokers, which have more staff to stagger their shifts.

 

 

Discussions are at an early stage but proposals under consideration also include beginning trading 30 minutes earlier at 9 a.m. and adding an evening session aimed at overlapping with early US trading. This would also bring Hong Kong more in line with global markets.

 

“The manpower and resource involved to change is simply too much to justify the outcome,” said David Wong, permanent honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Securities & Futures Professionals Association. 

 

Trading times have long been a sensitive issue in the Asian financial hub. A move to trim the lunch break to one hour from two in 2011 led to about 1,000 stockbrokers and restaurant staff taking to the streets in protest, an effort organized by Wong (the HKEX ultimately succeeded in pushing through the changes). While New York, London and other Western financial centers trade continuously through the day, lunch breaks remain common across Asia and exist in major markets including Tokyo, Singapore, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

 

Many global banks and major brokerages tend to stagger lunch schedules, allowing staff to cover futures — which trade without a break — as well as other regional markets. 

 

Small brokers focused on Hong Kong and mainland Chinese equities face greater disruption. In the dense financial neighborhoods of Central, Admiralty and Sheung Wan, junior staff tend to use the midday pause to reconcile morning trades and complete admin work before grabbing a lunch at local eateries offering wonton noodles or barbecue pork with rice ahead of the afternoon session. 

 

Senior traders and broker owners, too, use that lunch break to meet clients. Midday meals with clients often fill calendars and provide an opportunity to grow relationships and exchange market views and chatter. Such activities could become harder to accommodate under the new hours. 

 

A representative for HKEX referred to their statement Monday, which said that they’re “committed to continuously enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness” as an international financial center and reviewing opportunities to improve access.

Growing Trend

HKEX’s move reflects a broader push by global exchanges to capture more around-the-clock volumes. The Korea Exchange has proposed nearly doubling opening hours to 12 a day. Indonesia’s bourse said last year it would consider extending trading sessions on either side by an hour, while Taiwan plans to move the start of odd-lot trading to 9 a.m. by year-end and also reported to be mulling a trading day extension of up to 90 minutes. 

 

To proponents, the changes are a necessary response to increasingly globalized markets and investor demand for more flexibility. According to David Friedland, Asia Pacific managing director at Interactive Brokers, there’s already interest in after-hours trading and longer sessions, which would increase the overlap with foreign traders. 

 

Not everyone is convinced. Some traders worry that evening sessions could invite speculators from other markets when liquidity is expected to be lower.  

 

“We are troubled by the intensification of fierce competition between markets which may serve only the interest of a small community of day traders, but to the detriment of healthy financial markets in general,” said Lyndon Chao, head of equities and post trade at Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association.

 

A key question is how mainland exchanges will respond to the longer trading time given there’s some 600 eligible stocks available on the southbound Stock Connect, which allows mainland investors to trade Hong Kong shares. About 23% of Hong Kong’s equity market turnover as of 2025 was generated through southbound Stock Connect.

 

Representatives from the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges didn’t respond to a request for comment.

 

Ultimately, market participants argue that there are better ways to boost trading activity. Better utilization of capital by cross margining and lowering fees will help elevate trading in all hours, according to Interactive Brokers’ Friedland.

 

Cutting trading costs or broadening derivatives offerings would also do more to improve competitiveness than extending hours, says Thomas Ip, executive director at Gaoyu Securities Ltd. 

 

His take on losing his lunch break? The proposal is just a “non-essential piecemeal improvement,” he said.