The Tokyo Stock Exchange will extend its daily trading hours by 30 minutes from November 5 and introduce a closing auction session, in a bid to energize the market.

The market is currently open from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. There is a one-hour break between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

The closing time will be pushed back to 3:30 p.m. starting Tuesday, following a three-day weekend. It's the first extension of trading hours at the bourse since 1954.

The TSE began considering extending its hours following a massive system failure in 2020 that halted trading for an entire day.

TSE officials hope the extended hours will make trading more convenient for investors.

They also believe that even if a system failure occurs, the longer hours would give investors more trading opportunities once the glitch is fixed.

A closing auction session will also be introduced during the last five minutes before closing time.

During this period, investors can place buy and sell orders at specified prices. No trades will be executed, and stock prices will not move. Based on the orders, a closing price will be set at 3:30 p.m.

Investors can watch the moves of other players during the auction period and place or cancel orders accordingly. The TSE says the session is aimed at improving trading transparency.