TOKYO — Trading floors across Asia were converted into permanent dormitories on Wednesday, with the region's stock exchanges ordering every broker to remain at their terminals until artificial intelligence shares recover their pre-inflation values. Bunk beds have been installed between the monitors, and the closing bell has been abolished.
The Tokyo exchange began the measure at dawn, wheeling in cots and rice cookers while traders were still at their desks. A floor manager explained that nobody would be permitted to leave the building until the AI index climbs back to where it stood before the American inflation figures landed. «We have cancelled the concept of going home,» he said. «The market will reopen when morale does.»
Seoul and Hong Kong followed within the hour, each installing its own night shift and its own canteen. Brokers who attempted to reach the exits found them repurposed as additional trading stations. By midday the Tokyo floor held more mattresses than terminals, and a queue of analysts stretched around the block, each carrying a pillow and a prospectus.
The exchange has also introduced a compulsory morning stretch at the opening bell and a rule requiring every trader to shout the day's losses aloud before breakfast. Officials say the arrangement will remain in force until the AI trade returns, or until the mattresses wear out, whichever comes first.