TOCOM says aims to start 24-hour trading by 2010

TOKYO, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Tokyo Commodity Exchange plans to begin round-the-clock trading by March 2010 to attract more investors when global competition is increasing, TOCOM officials said on Wednesday.

Japan's top commodities bourse will extend trading hours by two hours to 5:30 p.m. (0830 GMT) from Jan. 7. It plans to extend hours further to 11 p.m. (1400 GMT) by March 2009 and aims to upgrade its trading systems by this time.

Trading on TOCOM starts at 9 a.m. (0000 GMT), which will remain the same.

The exchange aims to start round-the-clock trade within one year after upgrading the system.

TOCOM Chairman Masaaki Nangaku told a news conference that he hoped the initial extension by two hours would result in raising turnover as the exchange's trading time would overlap more with other markets such as Singapore and London.

"At times when global competition in commodities trading is increasing severely, it is necessary for us to extend our trading hours ... potentially we are planning to start 24-hour trading," Nangaku said.

TOCOM's move is in line with a government panel report in June which said Japanese commodity exchanges would explore ways to compete more strongly against their international rivals.

Japanese commodities exchanges have been struggling to raise turnover, hindered by a poor image due to past cases of high-pressure sales tactics.

Commodities market turnover, including TOCOM, has fallen steadily since a new law took effect in May 2005 to protect investors from such sales practices.