Pre-Open Session Introduced in Equity Derivatives (F&O)
In compliance with the SEBI circular dated 29-May-2025, the NSE and BSE are launching a Pre-Open Session for the Equity Derivatives (F&O) segment.
- Effective Date:Monday, December 8, 2025
The purpose of this new session is to significantly improve liquidity, price discovery, and risk monitoring for index and stock futures when the market opens.
Key Timings (9:00 AM – 9:15 AM)
|
Period |
Time |
Action Allowed |
Notes |
|
Order Entry |
9 AM to 9:07/9:08 AM |
Entry, Modification, Cancellation |
The session will close randomly between the 7th and 8th minute. |
|
Matching & Confirmation |
9:08 AM to 9:12 AM |
Trade Matching, Confirmation |
Trades are executed at the equilibrium price. |
|
Buffer Period |
9:12 AM to 9:15 AM |
No Order Actions |
Preparation for the normal market open. |
Contract Eligibility Criteria
The pre-open session will apply to:
- Current-month stock and index futures.
- Next-month futures during the last 5 trading days before the current-month expiry.
Note: Any AMO (After Market Orders) placed the previous day or on the same day before the market opens, for eligible securities, will be scheduled to open during this pre-open session. For AMO orders placed as market orders, price protection will be applied on top of last closing price of the previous trading day.
Contracts Not Covered
The following will not participate in the pre-open session:
- Options
- Calendar spreads
- Far-month futures
- Futures of securities on an ex-date corporate action.
Order and Market Rules
- Price Discovery: Uses the Call Auction Mechanism.
- Order Types Allowed: Limit and Market orders (with price protection).
- Order Types Not Allowed: Stop-Loss (SL) and Immediate or Cancel (IOC).
- Visibility: The Indicative Equilibrium Price will be visible throughout the session.
- Post-Session Handling:
- Unmatched Limit orders carry forward to the normal market.
- Unmatched Market orders are automatically converted to Limit orders and carry forward.
- Risk: Margin validation is active; insufficient margin will result in order rejection.
- STPC (Self-Trade Prevention): Continues to be applicable.
Once normal trading commences at 9:15 AM, the Member/Loss Prevention Price (MPP/LPP) will use the opening price discovered during the pre-open session.
For more details, you can refer to the official exchange circulars.
