What is Pre-Open Market Session in Stock Market? (2024)

16 February 2024

4 min read

What is Pre-Open Market Session in Stock Market? (1)

Indian stock market trading hours start at 9:15 AM and end at 3:30 PM. However the Indian markets open between 9:00 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. for a pre-open market session.

Pre-open market sessions had begun in India in 2010. This 15-minute session before the actual market opening helps to stabilise volatility and unusual movement in the market due to major announcements. NSE pre open market is the same as BSE.

Let’s read on to find out how does this happen.

What is the Pre-Open Market Session?

Pre-Open market session is utilised to arrive at the ideal opening price of a stock for the current trading session.

The duration of the pre-open market session is from9:00 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. which is 15 minutes before the trading session starts on: NSE and BSE. Pre open market strategy is provided to stabilise heavy volatility due to some major event or announcement that comes overnight before the market actually opens for trading.

Special events, like merger and acquisition announcements by a company, de-listing of stocks, debt-restructuring, credit-rating downgrades, etc., can have an impact on investors.

How Does Pre-open Session in Share Market Help Reduce Volatility?

The session helps the market to stabilise prices of various companies’ shares by determining the actual demand and supply of the shares. In the process of determining demand and supply, the equilibrium price is decided. This helps in bringing stability as the price and trades are not decided on the basis of trends.

Let’s understand how pre-open session in share market works.

Stock Market Timings in India: Break-Up of the Pre-Open Market Session

The 15 minutes of the pre-open market session is broken into three sub-sessions:

1. Order Entry Session

From 9:00 AM to 9:08 AM (8 Minutes)

The task undertaken in this sub-session are:

  • Placing an order to buy and sell stocks.
  • Modify or cancel orders.

After these initial 8 minutes, no orders are accepted.

2. Order Matching Session

From 9:08 AM to 9:12 AM (4 Minutes)

The tasks undertaken in this sub-session are:

  • Order confirmation and order matching
  • Calculating the opening price of stocks for the normal session

During this time, you cannot buy, sell, cancel, or modify your order.

3. Buffer Session

From 9:12 AM to 9:15 AM(3 Minutes)

The task undertaken in this sub-session is:

  • Buffer Session
  • Facilitates the transition from pre-open to regular market session

This sub-session is used as a buffer for any abnormalities in the previous two sub-sessions.

Know Indian Stock Market Timings here

How Is the Stock’s Opening Price in the Pre-Open Market Session Achieved?

During the pre-open market session, call auction takes all orders and then arrives at an equilibrium price. The equilibrium price is the price at which the maximum number of stocks can be traded based on the demand and supply quantity and the price.

The orders are then matched at the equilibrium price and trades take place at this price during the pre market timings in India.

Let us take a look at how the equilibrium price determination takes place in the pre-open market session.

Case 1

For example, the previous day closing price of Stock X is Rs. 100.

The following table gives the price and quantity figures during the pre-open market session.

Stock PriceOrder BookDemand & Supply QuantityMaximum Tradable QuantityUnmatched Orders
BUYSELLDemandSupply
102100098534009859852415
10412751161126002100021000-8400
10550004300900095009000-500
9740007500500072505000-2250
99200010000250003500025000-10000

Stock price Rs.99 corresponds to the highest tradable quantity of 25000 and hence will be considered as the equilibrium price.

Case 2

Let’s have a look at another possible scenario.

Stock PriceOrder BookDemand & Supply QuantityMaximum Tradable QuantityUnmatched Orders
BUYSELLDemandSupply
102100098534009859852415
104127511613000025000250005000
10550004300900095009000-500
9740007500500072505000-2250
99200010000250003500025000-10000

The above table shows the maximum tradable quantity corresponding to two stock prices.

In this case minimum of unmatched order quantity corresponds to Rs. 104 (5,000) and not Rs. 99 (10,000). Hence in this scenario, the stock price of Rs.104 will be taken to be the equilibrium price.

Case 3

Now, a possibility can arise that both maximum tradable quantities and unmatched orders are the same, as shown in the following table for stock price Rs. 104 and Rs. 99

Stock PriceOrder BookDemand & Supply QuantityMaximum Tradable QuantityUnmatched Orders
BUYSELLDemandSupply
102100098534009859852415
1041275116135000250002500010000
10550004300900095009000-500
9740007500500072505000-2250
99200010000250003500025000-10000

In this case, the stock price which is closer to the previous day’s closing price of Rs. 100 will be taken to be the equilibrium price.

So, here it is Rs. 99

Case 4

Both prices are equidistant as is shown by the following table.

Stock PriceOrder BookDemand & Supply QuantityMaximum Tradable QuantityUnmatched Orders
BUYSELLDemandSupply
102100098534009859852415
1041275116135000250002500010000
10550004300900095009000-500
9740007500500072505000-2250
96200010000250003500025000-10000

In this case, the previous day’s closing price will be the equilibrium price i.e, in this case, Rs. 100

The orders that have not been matched or traded in pre-open market session is carried forward to the normal trading session and the opening price, in that case, would be;

  • Limit orders that are not matched/traded during the pre-open session will be moved to the normal trading session at the same price.
  • Market orders that are not matched/traded during the pre-open session will be moved to the normal trading session at the opening price.
  • If the opening price is not discovered during the pre-open market session, then the market orders will be shifted to normal trading session at the previous day closing price.

Who Can Trade in a Pre-Open Market Session?

Mostly anyone can.

Sometimes stock brokers will not activate this feature in your trading account as standard because they don’t want a bunch of new traders trading in the pre and post-market sessions when volatility is a lot higher due to low volume.

So, in that case, you will have to contact your broker to activate the pre-open market session feature if it doesn’t come standard.

The Bottom Line

At present, only NIFTY 50 and SENSEX 30 stocks at NSE and BSE respectively, have been enabled for trading in the Pre-open market session by the exchanges. The NSE pre open market timing is the same as BSE.

Stocks which will get excluded or included in the NIFTY or SENSEX indices will still be a part of the pre-open market session.

Happy Investing!

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What is Pre-Open Market Session in Stock Market? (2024)

FAQs

What is Pre-Open Market Session in Stock Market? ›

The pre-market is a period of trading activity that occurs before the stock market opens. Though its trading session typically occurs from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. ET each trading day, several direct-access brokers allow access to pre-market trading to commence as early as 4 a.m.

What is pre-open session in stock market? ›

What is the Pre-Open Market Session? Pre-Open market session is utilised to arrive at the ideal opening price of a stock for the current trading session. The duration of the pre-open market session is from 9:00 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. which is 15 minutes before the trading session starts on: NSE and BSE.

What is pre-opening time of stock market? ›

9.00 a.m. – 9.15 a.m.

What is the pre-market open strategy? ›

Pre-opening market is a strategy which is adopted to deal with heavy market volatility which might happen due to some events or announcements before the market opens for actual trading.

Is it good to buy stocks pre-market? ›

Pre-market trading lets you place trades outside the typical market hours, but that ability doesn't mean you should do so. With a thin and illiquid market, it can be easy to make a trade at a bad price when you could wait a bit longer and get a better price in the more robust regular market.

Can we sell shares in a pre-open session? ›

Breakdown of the pre-open market session

During this session, you can place orders to buy and sell shares. In addition, you can also modify or cancel orders. The system randomly closes the session between the 07th minute and 08th minute, no orders can be placed, modified, or cancelled after the closure of this period.

Can you buy shares in pre open? ›

So here's the lowdown: From 7am to 10am, we enter what's called the 'Pre-open' market window. This period allows for trade orders to be submitted into the market, although trading hasn't commenced yet.

What does premarket tell you? ›

Traders use pre-market movements to gauge how markets might operate on full opening. However, they operate under more constraints and with much lower liquidity than during regular trading hours. Trading pre-market is most common on the back of new information about an asset.

Who can trade during pre-market? ›

While any trader can trade during pre-market hours, this period requires a high level of market awareness, strategy, and experience.

What is pre-market in the stock market? ›

The pre-market is a period of trading activity that occurs before the stock market opens. Though its trading session typically occurs from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. ET each trading day, several direct-access brokers allow access to pre-market trading to commence as early as 4 a.m.

Can I buy and sell in pre-market? ›

Investors can place pre market orders to buy or sell stocks during trading pre market, which typically occurs in the early morning. However, it's important to note that not all stocks are available for trading premarket during this NSE pre open market time.

How to take advantage of pre-market? ›

When you trade during pre-market, post-market or weekend sessions, you can:
  1. React to breaking news and company earnings reports as they happen.
  2. Open, edit or close a position outside of the main market session.
  3. Hedge your exposure if breaking news is likely to affect an existing position.

How accurate is premarket? ›

There are several factors that can impact the accuracy of pre-market trading. One of the main issues is the lack of liquidity during these pre-market hours, which can lead to wider spreads between bid and ask prices. This can result in price fluctuations that may not accurately reflect the true value of a security.

What happens in a pre-opening session? ›

Pre-Open Session

The pre-opening session is the timing before the market opens, i.e., between 9 and 9:15 a.m. In addition, two sessions may be added to this time frame. First, between 9:00 a.m. to 9:08 a.m., where the buy and sell orders are gathered, considered, or cancelled based on the order.

What is the best time to buy stocks? ›

With all these factors taken into consideration, the best time of day to trade is 9:30 to 10:30 am. The stock market opens for trading at 9:15 AM and in the first 15 minutes, the market is still responding to the previous day's news with experienced traders waiting to make their move.

Is it better to buy at market Open or Close? ›

The opening period (9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time) is often one of the best hours of the day for day trading, offering the biggest moves in the shortest amount of time. A lot of professional day traders stop trading around 11:30 a.m. because that is when volatility and volume tend to taper off.

What does pre open trading status mean? ›

Pre-market trading is the period before regular trading hours where traders can schedule trades. These trades are not executed until regular trading hours, which means they may not be the real moves the market is going to make that trading day.

What does pre open mean? ›

pre·​open·​ing ˌprē-ˈōp-niŋ -ˈō-pə- variants or pre-opening. : occurring before something (such as a store) opens for business.

How long is pre-market open? ›

The rise of electronic trading networks and a desire to be competitive caused the major U.S. stock exchanges to allow trading before and after the regular market hours of 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET in the early 1990s. Pre-market trading typically occurs from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., though it can begin as early as 4 a.m. ET.

Can I buy options in premarket? ›

Options are generally not available for trading in the pre-market. Most options can only be traded during regular market hours, although some index options can be traded during extended hours.

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