NYSE Considers Plan to Open Earlier, Thain Says (Update2) Listen
Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Stock Exchange is considering a plan to open trading by as much as two hours earlier to attract more business from international investors, NYSE Chief Executive Officer John Thain said.
The exchange wants to make a decision within the year, Thain told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Trading now begins at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. in New York.
``We are considering the expansion of the hours,'' said Thain, 49. ``It would probably be just an hour or two at the beginning or the end, more likely at the beginning.''
Seat prices have fallen by more than half since their August 1999 peak of $2.65 million, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rewrites rules governing trading. Thain is developing a hybrid plan to mesh electronic and manual trading to fend off competition from all-automated competitors, such as the Archipelago Exchange.
Archipelago plans to open for trading by 4 a.m. New York time as soon as March to lure business from Europe, the Financial Times reported Jan. 18.
``Any extension of market hours would be beneficial,'' said Christian Holland, a fund manager at Cavendish Asset Management in London, which oversees the equivalent of $564 million, including $100 million in U.S. stocks.
1985 Change
The current trading hours of the exchange have been in place since 1985. On Sept. 30 of that year, the NYSE advanced its opening from 10 a.m. Not everyone said extended hours would lead to more trading.
``It doesn't automatically mean trading activity will go up,'' said Leif Millarg, who sells U.S. stocks to European clients at Atlantic Equities LLP in London. Millarg was a former fund manager at Activest Investment in Munich. ``Volumes will remain the same, just be spread over a longer time period. I don't think it will make a difference.''
Thain, a former co-president of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., also ruled out joining with the London Stock Exchange and said he expects U.S. exchanges to combine.
He said he saw no ``synergy'' in a NYSE combination with the London Stock Exchange. The London exchange has rejected a takeover offer by Germany's Deutsche Boerse AG.
``I don't see the same types of synergies between the U.S. market and the London market that are being talked about at the moment,'' said Thain. ``There is plenty to do in the U.S. market right now. The U.S. market is much more fragmented than European markets and so we are really focused on the U.S. at the moment.''
Asked whether that means NYSE is looking at mergers in the U.S., he said, ``regardless of what we ourselves would do, I think there needs to be consolidation in the U.S. markets.''
To contact the reporter on this story:
Stephen Voss in Davos sev@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Tim Coulter in London tcoulter@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: January 26, 2005 07:32 EST |
