Extended timing: Lacklustre volumes on Day 1

Extended trading hours starting which started on Monday did nothing to boost the volumes on the bourses that opened nearly an hour earlier at 0900 hrs, as part of conscious efforts to align trade timing with the Asian markets.

In fact, the trading volumes in the cash segment fell down to Rs 14,978.55 crore (Rs 149.78 billion) from the previous session's Rs 15,149.24 crore (Rs 151.49 billion).

Besides, the Futures & Options (F&O) segment turnover was much less at Rs 42,559.47 crore (Rs 425.59 billion)compared to the December average of Rs 72,618.21 crore (Rs 726.18 billion).

On the first day of trading in the New Year, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex ended up by 94 points at 17,558.73 points. The National Stock Exchange's Nifty settled higher by 0.60 per cent at 5,232.20 points.

"Trading has been the same on the bourses with brokers queuing before the terminals sharp at 0900 hrs. However, there has been no significant surge in trading volume," Bonanza Portfolio assistant vice president Avinash Gupta said.

With a view to better align the domestic markets with the Asian bourses, BSE and NSE had late last month announced the advancing the trading timing to 0900 hrs with effect from January 4. The closing bell remains the same at 1530 hrs.

A host of brokers had opposed the move of extension of trade timing saying that the extended trading hours would face several infrastructure bottlenecks.

However, exchanges are of the opinion that the extension would help in reducing volatility and help catch up with trading in Hong Kong and Singapore markets.