PHILADELPHIA EXCHANGE TO EXTEND HOURS FOR ASIA The Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX), a leading trader of currency options, plans to extend its trading hours to serve Australasian and Far Eastern markets, exchange president Nicholas Giordano said. He told reporters the PHLX will open a new session between 1900 and 2300 hours U.S. EST from the beginning of the third quarter this year. The PHLX is also opening an office in Hong Kong to serve clients in the region and educate financial markets about the advantages of currency options, Giordano said. Giordano was in Sydney to start an Asian-Pacific tour by exchange executives promoting the hedging benefits of the exchange-trade currency option market against existing over-the-counter option trading during the local working day. Currency options pioneered by the PHLX in 1982 had become an accepted means of hedging against foreign exchange risk and had grown in popularity, he said. The PHLX now offered options in eight currencies, including a new Australian dollar option, and traded an average 42,000 contracts daily with underlying open interest of more than 30 billion U.S. Dlrs. Giordano said the exchange had been impressed with the performance of its Australian dollar contract, which since its introduction last year had regularly topped the French franc as the third most popular traded option, with up to 8,000 contracts traded daily. Having the Philadelphia exchange open during the Asia-Pacific market day would open new hedging opportunities, set a truer level for over-the-counter option trading, increase arbitraging opportunities and give corporations and treasuries access to a currency option market of much greater depth and liquidity with the security of a clearing house, he said.