Knowing the equity stock market timings can greatly impact your investment strategy, regardless of your financial expertise. Luckily, you can buy, sell, or invest in shares from any part of India during market hours because the stock market timings are the same throughout the country. You can only trade stocks during a specific time. Retail customers need to use a brokerage agency for transactions, between 9.15 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. on weekdays. The pre-opening session is from 9:00 am to 9.15 am.
The stock market timings in India
In India, the stock market has three different trading sessions.
● Pre-opening Timing
This session will be held from 9.00 a.m. to 9.15 a.m. You can place orders to buy or sell securities during this time. It can be categorized into three sessions:
9.00 a.m. – 9.08 a.m.
You can place orders for any transaction during this stock market opening time. When actual trading starts, priority is given to order entry, clearing off those orders first. If you need to, you can change or cancel any requests you make during this time, which is beneficial for investors, and you can't place any orders after this 8-minute period in the pre-opening session.
9.08 a.m. – 9.12 a.m.
This is the time when the price of the security is set in the Indian share market. Price matching makes sure that investors can buy or sell a security accurately by matching prices. The multilateral order matching system determines the final prices at which trading will begin during normal Indian stock market hours. Price matching orders are crucial in determining security prices during Indian stock market sessions.
9.12 a.m. – 9.15 a.m.
During this time, the Indian share market transitions from pre opening to normal trading hours. Placing new orders for transactions is not possible at the moment. Also, it is not possible to revoke existing bets that have already been placed from 9.08 a.m. – 9.12 a.m.
● Normal Session
The main trading hours for the Indian stock market are from 9.15 am to 3.30 pm. All trades during this time use bilateral order matching and prices are determined by market demand and supply. The securities market experiences widespread price volatility due to the instability of the bilateral order matching method. The stock market timings now incorporate the multi-order method for the pre-opening session to control this instability
● Post-closing Session
In India, the stock market closes at 3.30 p.m. No transactions happen after this period. However, the closing price determination at this time significantly influences the opening security price the next day.
There are two sessions for the closing time of the stock market in India.
3.30 p.m. – 3.40 p.m.
The closing price is determined by taking the average of prices of securities traded between 3.00 pm and 3.30 p.m. in the stock market. The closing prices of benchmark and sector indices like Nifty, Sensex, S&P Auto, etc. are determined by considering the weighted average prices of listed securities.
3.40 p.m. – 4 p.m.
After the stock market closes, you can place bids for the next day's trade during this period. As long as there are enough buyers and sellers, bids placed now will be confirmed. These transactions happen at a fixed price, regardless of any changes in the opening market price. So, investors can make capital gains if the opening price is higher than the closing price for the bids they've already made. If the closing price is higher than the opening price, you can cancel your bids at 9.00 a.m. – 9.08 a.m.
After Market Order
After Market Order allows you to place orders for the next day's trading before the market opens. It's helpful for individuals who can't keep an eye on the market at opening or during the trading session. After Market Order timings are 4:30 PM to 8:50 AM. Stock Exchanges can choose to close on days other than the scheduled holidays or open on days originally declared as holidays. Stock Exchange can decide to extend, shorten, or change trading hours.