The Tokyo Stock Exchange, the third largest in the world, said on Thursday that it will return to normal trading hours on Monday, ending a three-month-long emergency step, local media reported on Thursday.

The TSE has delayed the start of afternoon trading by 30 minutes to 1:00 p.m. since Jan. 19, following its suspension of trading in all listed shares the previous day, in a bid to prevent the breakdown of its trading system.

On Jan. 18, the TSE unprecedentedly closed all transactions 20 minutes earlier than usual to prevent its computerized trading system from being overwhelmed by a stampede of sell orders triggered by public prosecutors' raids on high-profile Internet firm Livedoor Co. over an accounting fraud scandal.

After the delisting of Livedoor on April 14, the TSE decided that the shortened trading hours are no longer necessary, adding that the number of daily orders and trading deals struck have stabilized in recent sessions, Kyodo News said.

Source: Xinhua