The Tokyo Stock Exchange on Tuesday launched a 30-minute extension of its daily trading hours. This is the first time change on the stock market in 70 years, since 1954. This decision is part of efforts to improve competitiveness and attract more investors.

The market opens from 9 a.m. and now closes at 3:30 p.m. The one-hour break at noon remains unchanged.
The TSE also introduced a closing auction session during the last five minutes of trading.

The Exchange says the auctions are transparent and aim to improve the method of setting closing prices.
During this period, buy and sell orders can be placed, but trades are not executed.

The TSE says the auction shows the flow of supply and demand for different securities, and investors can place or cancel orders accordingly. Closing prices are set at 3:30 p.m. depending on orders.

The Stock Exchange closed its trading on Tuesday without any problems being reported. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rebounded from Friday’s sharp decline to finish at 38,474, up 1.1 percent. Monday was a public holiday in Japan.

The index briefly gained more than 500 points, after falling more than 1,000 points late last week.

Analysts said many investors were in a wait-and-see mood ahead of the U.S. presidential election.