What are the stock market timings in India? When does the stock market open and close on a trading day?

Can someone tell me when the stock market opens and closes in India? Do mention the pre and post market session timings of both opening and closing.
  • Asked By
  • Updated On:
    22-Apr-2024
  • Replies:
    6

Short Answer

The operating hours for the Indian stock market is from 9 AM to 4 PM while remaining off on government holidays and weekends.

Detailed Answer

This may sound to be a very basic query. But, it is very crucial for traders and investors to be aware of the stock market timings in India.

First of all, let's learn about two stock exchanges in India: BSE or Bombay Stock Exchange and NSE or National Stock Exchange. You might have heard about these popular exchanges in India. The stock market timings are same for both these stock exchanges.

  1. Pre-opening session: 9:00 am to 9:15 am

This is further classified into: Order Entry Session, Order matching session and Buffer session.

  1. Regular or Normal trading session for Equity market: Monday to Friday From 9:15 am to 3:30 pm
  1. Closing price calculation: 3:30 pm to 3:40 pm
  1. Post-closing session: 3:40 to 4:00 pm

Hence, the stock market timings can be summarised as follows:

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Regular or Normal trading session is the actual time when most of the trading takes place. This means you can buy or sell as many stocks in this Normal or continuous session.

In simplest terms, as a retail investor, stock market start time is 9:15 am and closing time is 3:30 pm and you need to know it.

Stock Market Timings: Important Points to Know

  1. The Pre-opening and post-opening sessions are applicable for cash market only and not for futures and options.
  1. Stock market in India is closed on Saturday and Sunday. Also, stock market is not open on national holidays.
  1. There is also a special Stock Market trading session on Diwali known as "Mahurat trading" that is scheduled in the evening.
  1. And yes, most importantly, you don't have any lunch or tea break during the stock market session.

I have emphasised on equity market timings primarily here. However, commodity trading has extended trading hours and is open till 11:55 pm in India.

What do you feel? There was a buzz to extend the normal trading hours for equity also to cope up with global markets. Does this seem to be a good idea? Or the present stock market timings are ok and aligned keeping in mind the interest of traders?

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Discussion (5)

Stock market plays a huge role in the economy of the country and the two stock exchanges are National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange. The timings are from 9:15 to 3:15 but traders are allowed to trade after hours and no penalty is charged after that. This trading hours are only from Monday to Friday and on weekends it is closed.

It's true that the Stock Market timings are from 9 to 4 but out of which brokers only allow intraday trades from 9:15 AM to 3:15 PM. If one does not close any MIS or Intraday positions by 3:15 then most of the brokers auto Square-Off those positions and also charge an extra penalty for not manually squaring of the positions before 3:10-3:15 AM.

The stock market is open for trades from 9 in the morning to 4 in the evening from Monday to Fridays. There are exemptions on Saturday and Sunday where it remains closed.

Very basic but crucial info. I have met people who actually don’t know what are the exact stock market timings. They get confused as commodity market is open till late night. But equity trading is till 3:30 pm only.

Thanks for sharing details on stock market timings in India. Is the pre-open session in stock market conducted to discover the right stock price? Is the pre-opening session relevant for retail investors? Or the normal trading session is best for a trader? I believe, an investor/ trader buys or sells stocks only in the normal trading session. Right!

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