Deutsche Börse opens 24/7 trading in DAX 40 shares through 360X request-for-quote

Deutsche Börse Group has started offering 24/7 trading in the 40 constituents of the DAX through 360X, a Frankfurt-based trading venue it backs, the group said on Tuesday.

The off-hours trading runs on 360X’s regulated multilateral trading facility (MTF) segment, using a request-for-quote (RfQ) model during overnight hours and at weekends. Xetra keeps its existing role.

How the two venues fit together

Under what Deutsche Börse calls an “extended market model”, Xetra continues to provide institutional benchmark liquidity during core European hours, Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 17:30 CET (08:00 to 16:30 London time). It also continues its extended retail service on T7, Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 22:00 CET (07:00 to 21:00 London time).

The group said this dual offering allows standard DAX 40 instruments to be traded “exclusively via 360X’s RfQ module”, leaving core Xetra processes “entirely unchanged” and that standard auction cycles will continue. Off-hours closing prices on 360X will not dictate Xetra’s opening prices or affect its opening auctions.

According to the release, clients trade the traditional DAX ISINs, and the shares are settled in euro.

Onboarding and settlement

Existing Deutsche Börse clients can activate 360X now through what the group describes as a simplified administrative process in the Deutsche Börse Member Section. They can keep their existing post-trade connections. All trades settle bilaterally into participants’ existing Clearstream accounts.

360X describes itself as a Frankfurt-based regulated trading venue and investment firm, regulated by BaFin and ESMA, that operates OTC, MTF and DLT-MTF segments with connectivity via API, FIX and the Deutsche Börse Member Section.

What the group says

“Deutsche Börse Group aims to be the first European Financial Market Infrastructure to enable a 24/7 offering of traditional blue-chip equities,” said Eric Leupold, head of cash market at Deutsche Börse Group.

Carlo Kölzer, head of digital and FX at the group and co-CEO of 360X, said the model bridges “deep, regulated liquidity pools with the flexibility of round-the-clock availability”, while “preserving the absolute integrity of the core Xetra benchmark cycles”.

The release does not say which firms will provide quotes on 360X, what fees apply or whether any volumes have yet traded.

The wider picture

The move adds to a run of extended-hours plans on both sides of the Atlantic. The London Stock Exchange has scheduled customer testing for LSE 24, its planned out-of-hours venue for exchange-traded products, and US exchanges plan to begin 23-hour weekday trading on 6 December. Deutsche Börse’s approach differs in keeping the extra hours off its main exchange and on an affiliated MTF, using RfQ rather than a continuous order book.

What we are watching

• Which banks and market makers quote DAX 40 shares on 360X out of hours, and how wide those quotes are at night and at weekends.
• Whether Deutsche Börse extends the model beyond the DAX 40, for example to MDAX shares or ETFs.
• How brokers treat 360X off-hours prices in best-execution and valuation policies, given they do not feed into Xetra’s opening auction.