SEBI returns NSE's proposal to extend F&O trading hours

'SEBI has returned our application because the stock brokers have not provided the feedback that SEBI wanted,' NSE CEO said in a post-earnings analyst call

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has returned NSE's proposal to extend market timings in derivatives segment due to lack of consensus among the broking community.

The proposal was of a phased plan to gradually extend trading hours for index F&O from 6 pm to 9 pm in the initial phase to help market participants act on global news flow in the evening, while in the second phase trading could be extended till 11:30 pm. Finally, it was suggested that in the third phase cash market trading hours be extended until 5 pm.

However, no consensus was reached among the broking community to extend trading hours due to additional costs and technological requirements, said Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD & CEO of NSE at an analyst concall following NSE's Q4 results. "As of now, the extended timeframe proposal is shelved," he added.

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Dhiraj Agarwal, MD at Ambit Investment Managers weighed on this and said he would not prefer extension of trading hours as well. "It is already long enough and market participants are working quite hard," he said in a conversation with CNBC-TV18.

Earlier this year, the stock brokers body Association of National Exchanges Members of India (Anmi) had approved the plan.

In Q4FY24, NSE's net profit rose by 55 percent year-on-year (YoY), while revenue surged by 34 percent YoY to Rs 4,625 crore. The exchange will also issue four bonus shares for every one held and also declared a dividend of Rs 90 per share.

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