ASAP director Astro del Castillo said they are currently studying the possibility of a limited form of trading after the PSE regular trading hours of 9:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. with the use of online facilities.

He said off-hours trading will coincide with the trading hours of overseas markets which are several timelines from the Philippines.

Del Castillo particularly noted the NYMEX and London commodities markets where gold is heavily traded. Local mining companies are mostly gold producers and there will be lost trading opportunities when metal prices move overseas while the PSE is closed.

ASAP president Francisco Liboro said off hours trading will also allow foreign investors to trade in Philippine equities during their normal trading hours and also take advantage of trading opportunities arising from movements of Philippine stocks listed in overseas bourses.

Liboro stressed that they are still conducting a study on how best to set up off-hours trading in PSE-listed stocks noting that several trials of extended trading hours have been recalled in the past due to weak trading volumes which made it uneconomical.

Del Castillo noted that most of these trials were made during times when market conditions were still not conducive to longer trading hours.

Liboro said they will be looking closely at off-hours trading systems in the United States which they will be using as model for the proposed PSE off-hours trading.

For his part, PSE president Francis Lim welcomed the proposal, pointing out that it jives with the PSE’s thrust to look for ways to increase trading activity in the local equities market.