In a bid to bring back some of the lost zing, the markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), is looking to extend the trading hours for the derivatives market. Sources said Sebi was considering if trading in index futures could be kept open even after the cash market closed. The move will provide investors the tool to price in news flow that comes after market hours.
Currently, a lot of foreign investors use global platforms such as the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) — which offer almost round-the-clock trading on some Indian contracts — for trading or hedging their underlying exposure to Indian stocks.