Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) released a notice on March 25, stating that it would add 6 futures products and 1 options product in chemical and corn series for after-hours trading and adjust the close time of after-hours trading from 23:30 to 23:00.
According to the notice, DCE would add the products for and adjust the time of after-hours trading as of 21:00 on March 29, 2019. The added products are LLDPE, PVC, PP, ethylene glycol, corn and corn starch futures, and corn options; and the adjusted after-hours trading time is 21:00-23:00.
Enhancing price continuity to satisfy various investment demands
DCE launches the first group of after-hours trading products, RBD palm olein and metallurgical coke, in July 2014, added soybean and ferrous metal products, including soybean meal, soybean oil, No. 1 soybean, No. 2 soybean, coking coal and iron ore, for after-hours trading on December 26, 2014, and added soybean options for after-hours trading after its listing on March 31, 2017. And there would be 16 products for the after-hours trading of DCE after the above adjustment.
Currently, the after-hours trading of DCE is stable on the whole and well-functioning, and it has satisfied the diversified trading demand of market investors. As investors have gradually recognized and taken part in the after-hours trading of the domestic futures market, they show an increasing demand on the after-hours trading with more products featured by continuous trading. Market participants believed that the added chemical products are of high connection with domestic and overseas products, and the added corn products are of high internationalization. Their inclusion in the after-hours trading is of great significance to enhance the price continuity and effectiveness of the products and satisfy the market demand on cross-product arbitrage and hedging.
Complying with investor’s appeal to reduce after-hours trading time
At the very beginning, the after-hours trading time of DCE was 21:00-02:30, and DCE reduced the time to 21:00-23:30 on May 8, 2015 and now to 21:00-23:00. A DCE official said that the adjustment was the result of complying with market appeal and the trading reality of the Chinese futures market.
The reduction of after-hours trading time is a measure made by DCE to conform to the features as well as the trading demand and efforts of the after-hours trading participants in China. With the diversification and internationalization of the structure of the participants, DCE will continuously trace the trading demands of investors and consider extending the after-hours trading time at appropriate time.