New market timings from Monday; F&O segment to remain open till 3:40pm

 Market trading timings will change from Monday, August 3, following the implementation of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)’s revised trading framework.

Under the new framework, SEBI has introduced a Closing Auction Session (CAS) for F&O-eligible (Category I) stocks in the equity cash segment to improve price discovery and market efficiency.

For F&O-eligible stocks, the regular trading session will continue till 3:15 pm, followed by a transition period from 3:15 pm to 3:20 pm.

The Closing Auction Session will begin with CAS Order Entry I from 3:20 pm to 3:25 pm, followed by CAS Order Entry II from 3:25 pm to 3:30 pm. During the second phase, modification or cancellation of market orders will not be allowed, while the session will close randomly within the last two minutes.

Order Matching will take place from 3:30 pm to 3:35 pm, after which the auction price will be determined. The price discovered through the Closing Auction Session will become the official closing price for F&O-eligible stocks.

However, trading hours for non-F&O equity cash stocks will remain unchanged, with the market continuing to close at 3:30 pm.

In the equity derivatives (F&O) segment, trading will be extended by 10 minutes and will now continue until 3:40 pm. Timings for other market segments will remain unchanged.

SEBI has also revised the pre-open session. The order entry window will now run from 9:00 am to 9:07 am, while order matching will take place from 9:07 am to 9:15 am. Regular trading will continue to begin at 9:15 am.

According to SEBI, the Closing Auction Session is aimed at ensuring a fair and transparent closing price through an auction mechanism, improving execution efficiency by aggregating liquidity, providing equal access to all investors, reducing tracking errors for passive funds, and aligning India’s market structure with global best practices.

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