If you’re new to investing or trading in the Indian stock market, you may not be aware of the market opening and closing timings. If that’s the case, then this article is for you. Here’s some information about what time the stock market opens in India and when it comes to a close.
When Does the Stock Market Open and Close in India?
As with most other financial markets of India and the world, the Indian stock market doesn’t operate throughout the day. Instead, it operates on set timings. The stock market opens for regular trading at 9.15 AM and comes to a close at 3.30 PM on all weekdays except public holidays notified by the stock exchanges.
That said, although the market opens and closes at 9.15 AM and 3.30 PM, respectively, there’s a whole lot of activity that goes on before and after this set timing. To understand it better, let’s divide a trading session into multiple segments and analyze each one separately.
Pre-Trading Segment
The pre-trading segment lasts for 15 minutes, more specifically, from 9 AM to 9.15 AM. This segment can be further categorized into multiple smaller segments as follows.
During this 8-minute window, traders and investors are allowed to place both buy and sell orders for their securities. You’re also free to cancel or modify your orders as you please during this period.
Once the clock strikes 9.08 AM, all traders and investors will be disallowed from placing any more orders or modifying or canceling previously placed orders. Additionally, during this 4-minute window, price discovery happens, where buy and sell orders placed during the previous 8-minute window are matched with one another.
Other than this 3-minute window being just a transition period between the pre-trading segment and the normal trading segment, nothing much happens during this time.
Regular Trading Segment
As you’ve seen before, the normal trading segment is between 9.15 AM to 3.30 PM. As soon as the stock market is open for regular trading, the orders placed during the pre-trading segment (9.00 AM to 9.08 AM) are executed first before moving on to orders that were placed during the normal trading hours.
Post-Trading Segment
Once the clock strikes 3.30 PM, investors and traders are barred from placing new orders or modifying existing ones. The post-trading segment lasts only for about 10 minutes, more specifically, from 3.30 PM to 3.40 PM. During this 10-minute window between 3.30 PM and 3.40 PM, the closing prices of all stocks and indices are determined.
In the case of a stock, the closing price is determined by considering its weighted average prices between 3.00 PM to 3.30 PM. In the case of an index, the closing price is determined by considering the weighted average prices of all of the index’s constituents during the 3.00 PM to 3.30 PM window.
What is Muhurat Trading?
The Indian stock markets usually remain closed on the day of Diwali. However, to mark the auspiciousness of the festival, the stock markets are open for trading for one hour on Diwali. This one-hour trading session is a special session that usually begins at 6.15 PM and lasts till 7.15 PM. Since Diwali is considered to be a very auspicious time, this special trading session has been named Muhurat Trading.
Can You Place an Order Before or After the Stock Market Opens or Closes in India?
Now that you know at what time the stock market is open in India and when it comes to a close, let’s take a look at whether you can place buy or sell orders before or after it opens or closes.
To put it simply, yes. You can place buy or sell orders anytime between 3.40 PM to 8.59 AM of the following day. Such kinds of orders are known as ‘aftermarket orders’ since they’re placed after the traditional market hours. However, you should keep in mind that aftermarket orders are only enabled for certain specific companies. Also, these orders will be taken up for execution first, even before the orders are placed during the pre-trading segment, once the stock market opens at 9.15 AM.
Conclusion
With this, you must now know the answer to the question, ‘At what time does the stock market open and close in India?’. If you’re a beginner, it is advisable to trade only during the regular trading hours of 9.15 AM to 3.30 PM. Once you’ve gained enough experience, you may then proceed to place orders after the market hours or during the pre-trading segment.
Now, to invest or trade in stocks or upcoming IPOs, you first need to open a trading and Demat account in your name. If you don’t have one, you can open a Demat account and a trading account for free and through a completely paperless process by visiting the website of Motilal Oswal.