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The Osaka Securities Exchange Co. (8697.OK) said Tuesday that it will begin listing futures contracts based on the Dow Jones Industrial Average by early 2012 as part of its broader partnership with Chicago Mercantile Exchange parent the CME Group Inc. (CME).

Dow futures were previously listed on the OSE, Japan's largest derivatives bourse, from 2002 to 2005, but were dropped due to lackluster demand that was largely attributed to the limited trading hours.

Under the arrangement, the companies will offer yen-dominated products for their global customer base. OSE will list futures contracts based on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the CME Group will offer futures contracts based on the Nikkei 225 Average, both denominated in the Japanese currency.

The addition of these new futures products "will provide market participants with nearly 24-hour access to global benchmarks sized for their needs and denominated in their currency of choice," said CME Group Chief Executive Craig Donohue in a joint release.

"In addition to Dow Jones Industrial Average as a first step, OSE will continue to explore developing attractive futures products based on a variety of asset classes with CME Group," said OSE President Michio Yoneda in the statement.

When Dow futures were listed in the past, the derivatives could only be traded during Japanese day-time hours. OSE has since introduced night-time trading from 4:30pm to 11:30pm, with hours extended even longer last week to 3:00 am.

According to Yoneda, 30% of last week's daily trading volume was generated by the night session, versus 20% before the night-time hour extension.

The CME Group and the OSE originally formed a business alliance in 2008.

-By Judy Lam and Kana Inagaki, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-6269-2795; judy.lam@dowjones.com, kana.inagaki@dowjones.com