By Danilo Masoni
(Reuters) – Deutsche Boerse will allow stock investors to trade on the Frankfurt exchange until 10 pm starting from Monday, a move that highlights heightened competition among exchanges to win over clients.
“By extending trading hours, investors can react to events on the U.S. markets late in the evening, among other things, and take advantage of on-exchange trading,” the German bourse operator said in a statement on its website.
The extension would affect shares, exchange traded funds and mutual funds, and has been made possible by the new securities clearing platform introduced by Eurex Clearing in September 2021, it added.
Traders said the move could bring higher volumes for Deutsche Boerse but also raise costs, while putting pressure on rivals to possible consider a similar move.
Retail investors in Germany are already able to trade until 10pm through the Tradegate platform which is also used by professional traders.
The move is the latest development by exchanges to increase revenues by allowing punters to trade markets in different time zones. While some exchanges like Moscow have already increased their trading hours to attract Asian clients some exchanges like Tokyo are taking tentative steps in that direction.
Shares in the exchange operator have underperformed the broader German market with shares up only 2% so far this year compared to a 15% rise in the index.
They have also lagged shares in pan-European rival Euronext although they have done better than the London Stock Exchange < LSEG.L>.
(Reporting by Danilo Masoni; Editing by Saikat Chatterjee)
