Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui said on Friday that while trading since the government's move to allow the stock market to remain open during extreme weather had proven to be "smooth", further extending its opening hours to round-the-clock would be "more complicated".

His comments came after some local market players called for such an extension prior to the Policy Address amid plans by Nasdaq to launch 24-hour trading from next year and with the London Stock Exchange reportedly studying the merits of a similar move.

Speaking on a radio programme, Hui said local stock trading has been quite "smooth" over the past year since authorities scrapped the typhoon trading halt last September, allowing the city's stock exchange to be more in line with global markets.

"We've experienced several sessions over the past year where the markets remained open during typhoon days, but as you've seen, the industry is very resilient, and we've also encouraged the securities firms to adopt more digital services across the board, from the front, middle to the back ends," he said.

But Hui said a changeover to 24-hour trading would involve systematic arrangements with securities brokers altogether.

"[Having 24-hour trading hours] will not only be dependent on us... it will also require the securities brokers themselves to prepare, as investors buy or sell stocks through securities firms in the market," he said.

"So if the stock exchange is to operate 24 hours a day, they will also need to follow suit, but is there really such a demand? At the same time, there're also technical issues that need to be considered," Hui cautioned.

He stressed that authorities must carefully assess the overall effectiveness of such a move, including how this would boost trading volumes, before making a decision.

Hui also said Hong Kong has formed a vibrant ecosystem of family offices and that the government aims to attract another 220 family offices to the SAR between 2026 and 2028.

This new key performance indicator (KPI) target was set by Chief Executive John Lee in his Policy Address unveiled on Wednesday, with the target being 10 percent higher compared to the previous goal of 200 set three years ago.

Speaking after the programme, Hui pointed out that the government has already achieved its goal of attracting 200 family offices three months ahead of target, with the new goal reached after taking into consideration expectations for market development.

"Currently there's been a very strong momentum when it comes to attracting family offices to Hong Kong. And a key focus of the KPI this time is to assist and support the family offices already established here to further expand their operations," he said.

"In fact, many family offices have already set up shop here without the government's assistance, and we already have a relatively thriving ecosystem," he added.

He also noted that the government is currently handling about 2,000 applications under the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme.

The city, Hui added, is also speeding up efforts to establish an international gold trading market by expanding its storage capacity to 2,000 tonnes of bullion within three years and launching new gold-related products, which will also cater to the family offices' investment demands.