IN a bid to become a global marketplace, the Shanghai Futures Exchange will introduce after-hours trading for its gold and silver contracts, starting from July 5.

Night trading will commence at 9pm from Monday to Friday and end at 2:30am the next day, the bourse said yesterday. Currently the market trades from 9am to 11:30am and from 1:30pm to 3pm.

The move comes at a time of rising competition among commodities exchanges in the region after the Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd acquired the London Metal Exchange last year.

Price volatility in precious metals on global markets in recent months has exposed Chinese investors on the local exchange to risks. They sleep while markets in New York and London churn. After-hours trading here would enable Chinese investors to close positions late in the day if prices swing sharply when Western markets open.

The Shanghai exchange said earlier this week that it would lower margin requirement, or the minimum amount of cash an investor must keep as deposit, for gold and silver contracts to 4 percent from 7 percent, in a bid to boost trading volume.