The National Stock Exchange (NSE) is reportedly proposing the initiation of extended trading hours for equity derivatives, a move aimed at allowing market participants to trade futures and options contracts beyond the standard trading hours of 9:15 AM to 3:30 PM.

What Happened? Market regulator SEBI is said currently considering this proposition, which aims to allow Indian traders to respond more immediately to global market events and is expected to boost trading volumes on the exchange.

The proposal, as reported by the Economic Times, outlines the potential introduction of an evening trading session running from 6 pm to possibly 11:30 pm, starting with index futures and options, including Nifty and Bank Nifty, before expanding to include stock derivatives.

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Why It Matters? People perceive this phased introduction as a strategic response to concerns about large traders moving to round-the-clock trading platforms like GIFT City.

However, some market participants and leading brokers have met this extension in trading hours with scepticism, arguing that longer trading hours may not necessarily lead to increased trading volumes and could instead raise operational costs and cause employee dissatisfaction.

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