TIMED TO THE STREET

More Hassle For Broking Houses, Little Gain For Retail Investors — That's What It's Going To Be Like When Trading Starts At 9 AM From January 4 WHO GAINS FROM INCREASED TRADING HOURS?  Bigger brokerages, fund managers trading India from Singapore or Hong Kong and day traders. Day traders operate on wafer-thin margins, and try to spot arbitrage opportunities. Those on arbitrage desks may trade more for the simple reason that they are in front of the terminals through the day. But a retail investor who wants to buy 100 shares of Tata Motors will not buy 150 shares just because the market is open for longer hours.  There's a feeling that FIIs will trade more...  NOT EXACTLY  Their capital allocation for India will not go up, though they will have more time to take a call on Indian stocks.  Smaller brokerages are raising hue and cry...  Naturally. Traders are complaining, longer hours could be stressful and may lead to errors. The IT and telecommunication teams in a brokerage start working twoand-half hours before trading time. The risk management team has to come in at least one-and-a-half hours before market opening. This will push the management to pay overtime wages and introduce shifts.  WHAT ARE THE OPERATIONAL DIFFICULTIES?  The brokerages may have trouble arranging for margin funds, most banks don't open that early. If trading starts at 9, the broker will have to arrange for the funds by 8:45. Not all bank branches have the RTGS facility, which allow instant transfer of funds (from the client's a/c to broker's).  WILL THE REGULATOR AND THE GOVERNMENT INTERVENE? It is quite unlikely that they will. Both Sebi and the finance ministry say that they do not have much of a role. Their view is that stock brokers, who are key stakeholders in stock exchanges, and the bourses need to talk to each other. Yes, some MPs were perturbed, particularly about the inadequate notice given to switch over to the new timings. That issue has been addressed now, and as an official in North Block said — it is not even a storm in a tea cup.  CURRENT TIMINGS In India  Cash & derivatives segments:  9:55 am to 3:30 pm  Currency derivatives market:  9:00 am to 5:00 pm  Commodity futures market:  10:00 am to 11:30 pm Overseas  Singapore Stock Exchange:  9:00 am - 12:30 pm and 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NYSE Euronext: 9:30 am - 4:00 pm LSE: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm