TOCOM turnover rises by 19 pct after long hours

TOKYO, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Trading volume in oil and metals on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Japan's top commodities bourse, jumped about 19 percent on Monday compared with the daily average of last year after the sessions were extended by two hours.

TOCOM is hoping that the longer hours will boost turnover, which has dwindled in the last few years hindered by a poor image due to past cases of high-pressure sales tactics.

TOCOM extended trading by two hours to 5:30 p.m. (0830 GMT) from Monday, which brings the end of the Tokyo session closer to the start of the London day.

Total turnover came to 227,690 contracts on Monday, compared with the daily average of 192,123 contracts last year.

Monday's volume was up 51 percent from the daily average of 150,583 lots in December.

"The longer hours gives investors more opportunity. For instance, many were able to price the yen's moves into the market after the previous close of 3:30 p.m.," said Tatsuo Kageyama, analyst at Kanetsu Asset Management.

"But we need to watch for a while before saying whether the move is successful," Kageyama said.

TOCOM lists futures contracts on items such as crude oil, gasoline, gold, platinum and rubber.

Volume in TOCOM gold futures, which account for 40 percent of overall turnover on the exchange, totalled 95,020 contacts, up 28 percent from the 2007 daily average of 74,298 contracts.

Traders said a firmer yen against the dollar undermined yen-based precious metals futures.

The benchmark December gold contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) <0#JAU:> closed at a session high of 3,044 yen a gram, down 11 yen or 0.4 percent from Friday. Its intraday low was 3,018 yen, its lowest since Dec. 26.

"Trading hours rose 40 percent, but trading volume needs to rise steadily as longer hours means a rise in costs for brokers," said a manager at a Japanese brokerage house.

TOCOM's measure was taken in line with the government's move to explore ways for Japanese commodity exchanges to better compete with international rivals.

In its next step, TOCOM plans to extend its hours further to 11 p.m. (1400 GMT) by March 2009 and upgrade its trading systems.

By September 2009 it aims to start round-the-clock trade. (Reporting by Chikafumi Hodo; Editing by Hugh Lawson)