MANILA Jan 2 (Reuters) – Daily trading hours at the
Philippine Stock Exchange will be extended for
the second time in three months from Monday as the bourse
prepares for a planned link-up with other Southeast Asian
markets later this year.

The market will now be open until 3:30 p.m. [0730 GMT],
including a 10-minute run-off to the close, extending trading by
two hours. The market open remains at 9:30 a.m. and there will
now be a 1-1/2 lunch break from noon.

Trading had been extended by an hour up to 1:00 p.m. from
Oct 3. Before then, the market was open only for 2-1/2 hours
each day.

The Philippine bourse, which was closed on Friday, was
Asia’s best-performing market last year with a 4.1 percent gain.

Indonesia came second with a rise of 3.2 percent and Kuala
Lumpur managed to eke out a gain of 0.78 percent. They were the
only markets in Asia to gain last year.

Stock exchanges in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand delayed
a plan to set up electronic trading links last year to attract
investment and raise liquidity, saying it would be done in 2012.

Singapore Exchange and Bursa Malaysia will link up in June,
followed by Thailand in August. The Philippines will
come in at a later date, while Indonesia and two markets
in Vietnam will announce their participation
pending approval from their regulatory bodies.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations plans
to transform itself into a unified trading bloc with free flow
of capital by 2015.

(Reporting by Erik dela Cruz; Editing by John Mair)