Borsa Istanbul launches single trading sessions

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s main stock exchange, Borsa Istanbul, has begun single trading sessions, using technology from its partner, the U.S. NASDAQ exchange, it said in a statement on Nov. 30.

“Within the first phase of the ‘Transformation through Technology Program’ (BISTECH), Borsa Istanbul has launched the Equity Market Trading System, including new systems for settlement, surveillance and risk management,” the statement said.

In cooperation with NASDAQ, the exchange will hold single trading sessions from Nov. 30, as opposed to the two-session trading day that had been in effect previously.

At noon, continuous trading will be paused for one hour, while order collection will continue.

Contrary to the previous practice, there will be no closing after the first session. Base prices and price margins will be calculated once at the beginning of the day and will be valid for the whole day, the statement said.

Price margins will be calculated at 20 percent on a daily basis instead of 10 percent for the session, according to the statement.

In January of last year, U.S. stock exchange NASDAQ and Borsa Istanbul concluded a wide-ranging agreement, which included the delivery of market-leading technologies and advisory services to Borsa Istanbul.

As part of the agreement, NASDAQ OMX took a 5 percent equity stake in Borsa Istanbul, with an option to increase this by an additional 2 percent.