Bourses to extend working hours

TALLINN - The president of the NASDAQ OMXBaltic Bourse has announced that the Baltic stock exchanges will extend their working hours at the beginning of next year.

As of Feb. 2, 2009, the stock exchanges will work for an additional two hours -- remaining open until 4:00 p.m. instead of the current 2:00 p.m.

The aim of the change is to ensure foreign investorsbetter access to the Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius bourses andthereby generate higher trading activity in the Balticmarket, the stock exchange said.

After extending the trading hours investors will be able to trade longer and the trading hours will bettercorrespond to the working hours of other European markets.

"Extending trading hours is akin to opening the doorwider. Investors will have more freedom to trade when it isconvenient for them," said Henrik Elfving, president of NASDAQ OMXBaltic market.

"We were satisfied with the results whena joint trading system SAXESS was introduced in the Balticmarket. In the longer term we expect to see a positiveimpact also from extension of the trading hours. We arecommitted to making the Baltic market as accessible toinvestors as the major markets are, and we will continue towork on this," he said.