Stock Market Timings in India: Opening & Closing Times for NSE & BSE

In India, share markets are open for trading during specific time frames. Investors must conduct their trades via a brokerage between 9:15 AM and 3:30 PM from Monday to Friday.

India’s two major stock exchanges are the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE). The trade timings for both of them are identical.

Indian Stock Market Timings: Opening & Closing Hours

The general share trading sessions of the Indian stock market are demonstrated in the following table.

Equity trading remains closed on weekends and trading holidays and is open on all other days. The four main segments of trading hours are- the pre-opening session, regular trading session, closing and post-closing session. We will discuss them in detail.

Pre-Opening Session

The stock market timings begin with the pre-opening session that lasts for 15 minutes from 9:00 AM to 9:15 AM. This session was introduced to reduce the volatility of stocks as the market opened. You can buy and sell stocks during the opening session for a limited time. 

This session is further divided into three segments which are listed below.

Segment 1: 9:00 AM – 9:08 AM

During the first 8 minutes, you can place orders to buy or sell securities in advance. It is possible to modify or cancel existing orders in this time frame. Once the regular trading session begins at 9:15 AM, the orders placed at this time will get a preference in the orders queue.

Segment 2: 9:08 AM – 9:12 AM

During these next 4 minutes of the pre-opening session, you cannot place any new orders or modify/cancel existing orders.

This time frame is used for price matching only. Price matching is a method  used to determine the supply and demand of securities to ensure accurate transactions among investors buying and selling securities. A multilateral order matching system helps to determine the final price of stocks at which regular trading sessions open. 

Segment 3: 9:12 AM – 9:15 AM

This time frame is a transition period between the pre-opening and regular trading sessions.  It is not possible to place any orders at this time. Also, you cannot make any  modifications to the orders placed during this time.

Regular Trading Session

The regular trading session is the main stock trading session which lasts from 9:15 AM to 3:30 PM. During this time frame, a bilateral order-matching system is followed for transactions where the prices of securities are determined by supply and demand.

A bilateral order matching system is volatile and leads to several market fluctuations. The pre-opening session, which implements a multi-order matching system, helps to reduce market volatility.

During regular trading sessions, investors can buy and sell stocks and cancel or modify orders without any restrictions.

Closing and Post-Closing Session

The stock market timing closes at 3:30 PM, and no exchange takes place after this time. However, the closing prices of securities are determined during the post-closing session, which takes place from 3:30 PM to 4:00 PM, to determine the opening prices for the next day’s session. There are two segments of trading hours during this time:

• Segment 1: 3:30 PM – 3:40 PM

During the first segment, the closing prices of the stocks are calculated by taking an average of the stock price traded between 3:00 PM and 3:30 PM. The last 30 minutes of the regular trading session are vital for determining the closing price of stocks.

Closing prices of India’s major indices, such as Sensex, Nifty, S&P Auto, etc., are calculated by considering the average of stock prices present within the particular index. For instance, Sensex’s closing price is based on 30 listed stocks, while 50 stocks are considered for Nifty. 

• Segment 2: 3:40 PM – 4:00 PM

You can place bids for the next day’s trading session during this time frame.  This is possible when there are a significant number of buyers and sellers present in the market. These bids are made at stipulated prices.

Significant capital gains are possible if the opening price exceeds the closing price the next day. In case the opposite happens, investors can cancel their bids during the 9:00 AM – 9:08 AM time frame.

Aftermarket Orders (AMO)

After the share trading sessions during the day, purchasing stocks via the aftermarket orders (AMO) facility is still possible. However, you cannot actively trade after hours. Instead, your order will be put in a queue and executed when the share market opens again.

This facility is helpful for investors who do not have the time to monitor markets during open hours.

Muhurat Trading Session

The stock market in India generally remains closed during public/national holidays as per notices provided by respective exchanges. However, on the day of Diwali every year, the stock market opens for 1 hour.

This trading session is the muhurat trading. Also, it comprises a pre-opening session, regular trading session and post-closing session. It takes place since Diwali is considered an auspicious day.

The time and date for this session vary each year. The stock market timing depends on the muhurat (auspicious time) decided by these exchanges.

Final Word

Knowing the stock market timings in India is crucial for understanding when to place and settle your trades, especially if you are a day trader. Knowing the scheduled holidays is also a good idea to avoid unforeseen losses. Now that you know when to place trades, you can start investing in shares by getting a Demat account and a trading account.

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