London Stock Exchange parent exploring 24-hour trading launch, FT reports

The London Stock Exchange Group is weighing whether to launch 24-hour trading and is looking into the practicalities of increasing its trading hours, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the situation.

LSEG is “absolutely looking at it, whether it means 24-hour trading or extended trading,” one of the people told the newspaper, adding that the exchange group was “having important commercial, policy and regulatory discussions” about the “ongoing topic.”

The exploration is part of wide-ranging discussions into potential new products and services, another person told the FT.

LSEG had no comment.

The group is considering aspects of extended trading hours, including technology upgrades, regulatory questions, possible effects on companies with dual listings and the potential impact on liquidity, currently concentrated at the open and closing auction of the trading day, the report added.

In March, Nasdaq announced plans to introduce 24-hour trading on its flagship U.S. exchange and joined rival exchanges like Cboe Global Markets and Intercontinental Exchange, the operator of the New York Stock Exchange, in planning extended trading hours.

LSEG, which runs the London Stock Exchange and provides data and analytics to banks and other institutions, reported stronger than expected first-quarter income in May, driven by robust growth in its markets division, and a strong performance across its other businesses.

London has struggled to attract new listings, prompting reforms last year to make it more competitive with New York and the European Union after Brexit and some have moved their primary listing to New York or picked Europe for IPOs.

Shein is working toward a listing in Hong Kong after its proposed London IPO stalled while Unilever chose Amsterdam as the primary listing for its ice cream business Ben & Jerry’s in February.