The Tokyo Stock Exchange started to extend its trading hours by 30 minutes to 3:30 p.m. on November 5.

This is the first time in 70 years that its trading hours have been extended with the aim of revitalizing the market by expanding its trading opportunities.

Until last week, the trading hours were from 9:00 to 11:30 a.m. and from 12:30 to 3:00 p.m.

The exchange had a major system failure in 2020, which prevented trading for the entire day.

The extended trading hours are also intended to increase the possibility of resuming trading after the system is restored.

Currently, most listed companies announce their financial results after the close of trading in order to avoid any impact on their stock prices.

In the future, however, it is expected that more and more companies will change their financial results announcement times, either by moving them up during trading hours or, conversely, by moving them back.