GTN and Blue Ocean Technologies team up to extend trading hours for US stocks in APAC and the Middle East
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Blue Ocean Technologies and GTN recently announced a new partnership. The two firms teamed up to introduce longer trading hours for US stocks, specifically in the Middle East and Asia Pacific (APAC) markets. As a result of the partnership, US stocks will now be available for traders and investors nearly 24 hours per day.
Apart from the clear benefit for the traders, the partnership also marks Blue Ocean’ ATS’ debut in the Middle East. Furthermore, it continues its expansion, especially in the Asia Pacific region, thus enhancing the global reach of US equities trading.
GTN and Blue Ocean bring nearly 24-hour US stock trading to APAC and Middle East –
“GTN remains dedicated to pioneering solutions that remove barriers and increase accessibility for investors globally. This partnership with Blue Ocean Technologies further reinforces this com… pic.twitter.com/eQ2kUVWfXZ— The Industry Spread (@industryspread) March 6, 2024
Making US stocks available around the clock
The collaboration will allow GTN to provide its network of banks, fintechs, brokers, and wealth managers. With its connections, the company will be able to offer around-the-clock trading of the US National Market System (NMS) stocks.
On top of that, the service — which features electronic order delivery and live data during extended hours — will allow investors in the Middle East and APAc regions to engage in US stock trading during their regular business hours. This will represent unprecedented flexibility and access, representing a major change in how these traders will interact with US-based trading instruments.
Prior to the partnership, GTN offered fairly limited hours for US stocks. Traders could only buy them between the hours of 4 AM and 8 PM EST. Now, the new arrangement will extend the hours from 8 PM to 3.50 AM ET, Sunday to Friday.
As a result, traders will have access to the stocks for nearly 24 hours, with the exception of a 10-minute period between 3.50 AM and 4 AM ET. The move will better align with the local trading times of international investors, completely resolving the issue of different time zones.
Realizing a shared vision of accessibility for global markets
Blue Ocean Technologies was established in 2019. Throughout its history, the firm was committed to transforming US trading into a global operation. To that extent, it enabled its Blue Ocean Session, which allows trading during US overnight hours, thus promoting access for traders around the world, and enabling greater transparency and inclusivity.
The firm has been actively expanding its global footprint in 2023, especially in the APAC region. It sought strategic partnerships in countries like Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. In 2024, both Blue Ocean and GTN intend to empower even more international investors, and their partnership represents the first step toward achieving that goal.
Blue Ocean’s CEO, Brian Hyndman, stated that his firm is delighted to team up with an industry capital markets leader like GTN. He said that GTN shares his own company’s vision of power of technology to grow the global trading customer base. This is why the agreement is very important to Blue Ocean, since it will mark its entrance into new markets. “The ability to expand in both APAC and the Middle East with the help of GTN was highly attractive to us and is in line with our mission of accessibility in markets all over the world,” he added.
Meanwhile, GTN’s Group CEO, Manjula Jayasinghe, also commented on the partnership, stating that the collaboration is a big step toward realizing GTN’s vision of making global financial markets available to all. “GTN remains dedicated to pioneering solutions that remove barriers and increase accessibility for investors globally. This partnership with Blue Ocean Technologies further reinforces this commitment, offering extended trading hours that cater to the specific needs of investors in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East,” Jayasinghe concluded.
