China to launch stock index circuit breaker early next year: Caixin

A stock indicator shows the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index on Dec 4, 2015. [Photo by Wang Biao/Asianewsphoto]

China will officially launch a circuit breaker for the country's benchmark stock indexes after the New Year holiday in January, respected financial magazine Caixin reported on its website, citing regulatory sources.

In September, China's Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges and the China Financial Futures Exchange said they planned to introduce the mechanism to "stabilize the market", and had published proposals for public consultation.

Caixin reported on Friday that the exchanges had made some adjustments to the proposals, including shortening the time of trading suspensions after the circuit breaker is triggered.

According to the proposed rules published on Sept 7, a 5 percent rise or fall in the CSI300 index from the previous day's close would trigger a 30-minute suspension of all the country's equity indexes if the move occurs before 2:30 pm (0630 GMT). After that, a 5 percent move would prompt a suspension until the stock market close at 0700 GMT. China's index futures market closes at 0715 GMT.

Moves of 7 percent from the previous close would trigger a trade suspension for the rest of the day.

When contacted by Reuters, the Shanghai Stock Exchange declined to comment.