Session Dialthe NSE equity day, by the clock
Clock

National Stock Exchange of India · equity

One trading day, round the clock

The cash market opens with a call auction at 9:00 am, trades continuously from 9:15, and — for stocks with derivatives — closes with a second auction before the post-close session ends at 4:00 pm.

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  • Pre-open call auction
  • Continuous trading
  • Closing auction
  • Transition and post-close

Outer ring: cash market. Inner ring: equity derivatives. The pale arc marks 6 am to 6 pm.

The day as a rail

  1. –

    Pre-open: order entry, all orders Cash market

    Limit and market orders can be entered, modified and cancelled.

  2. –

    Futures pre-open Equity derivatives

    Same revised schedule as the cash market, for current-month futures (next month too in the last five trading days).

  3. –

    Pre-open: order entry, limit orders only Cash market

    Market orders cannot be entered, modified or cancelled; entry closes at a random moment in the last 2 minutes.

  4. –

    Pre-open: matching Cash market

    One equilibrium price is found and becomes the open price; starts as soon as order entry closes.

  5. –

    Pre-open: buffer Cash market

    Transition to the continuous trading session.

  6. –

    Continuous trading (CAS stocks) Cash market

    Stocks with derivative contracts trade continuously until the closing auction begins.

  7. –

    Continuous trading (other stocks) Cash market

    Securities outside the closing auction trade continuously until 3:30 pm.

  8. –

    Equity derivatives trading Equity derivatives

    Futures price bands align with the closing auction from 3:15 to 3:40 pm.

  9. –

    Closing auction: reference price Cash market

    Transition from continuous trading; the reference price is the VWAP of 3:00–3:15 pm.

  10. –

    Closing auction: order entry, all orders Cash market

    Limit and market orders.

  11. –

    Closing auction: order entry, limit orders only Cash market

    No market orders; random closure in the last 2 minutes.

  12. –

    Closing auction: matching Cash market

    The equilibrium price is the closing price for CAS stocks.

  13. –

    Transition Cash market

    From the closing auction to the post-close session.

  14. –

    Post-close session Cash market

    Unchanged except for its timings.

Times from NSE’s pre-open FAQ (from 7 September 2026) and its closing auction page, read 2026-10-12. Sources.

Follow the clock

  1. Pre-open — how one opening price is found from a book of orders.
  2. Trading session — continuous trading, and why some stocks stop at 3:15 pm.
  3. Closing auction — the 3:15–3:35 pm auction that sets the closing price for stocks with derivatives.
  4. What changed in 2026 — the dated log, and an NSE page that still shows the old timetable.