SGX to reintroduce lunch break, widen bid spreads from Nov 13

SINGAPORE Exchange (SGX) has decided to bring back the lunch break and widen the minimum bid spreads from Nov 13, 2017, after a public consultation exercise, the market operator announced on Tuesday after the market closed.

Following the public consultation, SGX said it will not change its original proposals to:

1) widen the tick size for stocks in the S$1.00 to S$1.99 range from 0.5 cent to one cent;

2) introduce a mid-day trading break from noon to 1pm; and

3) raise the threshold at which trades trigger an "error trade" warning, also called the forced order range, from the current 20 bids to 30 bids in either direction.

SGX launched the public consultation exercise on the rules in March, the strongest signal from the market operator that it was ready to reverse course on a number of moves that had generated controversy in the market.