Legislators on Thursday said Hong Kong’s stock market operated as usual during the first session under a T8.

The decades-long practice of shutting down the markets when there's severe weather was scrapped in September.

Financial services sector lawmaker Robert Lee said no major incidents were seen during the morning trading session, but there was room for improvement regarding the use of physical cheques.

“From the brokers' perspective a lot of them already have electronic payment methods with the exchange. However, for a lot of the ultimate end clients, they may not all have these electronic payment methods,” he told reporters.

“I think in terms of physical cheques, that's something that the HKMA recognises as a form of payment. For some of these people that are having some difficulties with dealing with physical cheques, I think there's room for improvement.”

Accountancy sector lawmaker Edmund Wong said the stock exchange and the finance sector were well-prepared for business under severe weather conditions, allowing the stock market to run smoothly.

The stock market opened at 9.30am. The observatory downgraded the T8 to a T3 at 10.20am.