In World's Longest Trading Day, Everyone Waits for the Close
- Closing auctions now make up 20% of trading volumes in Europe
- Their rise raises issues of monopoly, necessity of long hours
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At 8 1/2 hours, Europe has the world’s longest trading day. But only after it ends do markets come alive.
In the five minutes after trading finishes at 4:30 p.m. in London, auctions across the continent set the closing prices tracked by billions of dollars. Over the past three years, the percentage of total trading volume executed in this manner has swelled to 20% from 12%, compared with about 8% in the U.S., according to Rosenblatt Securities.