Archive · 7 Sep 2026
NSE Revises Pre-Open and Futures Trading Rules
The National Stock Exchange has changed how trading begins each day.
For the first five minutes, traders can place either market or limit orders.
For the next five minutes, they can use only limit orders.
The exchange will match orders between 9:10 am and 9:12 am.
Trading will then move into a short buffer period before normal trading starts at 9:15 am.
Market orders will generally be matched before limit orders during the opening process.
NSE has also changed how it calculates reference prices for futures.
Futures will have a 3% limit above or below that reference price from 3:15 pm to 3:40 pm.
From 9:00 am to 9:05 am, NSE will allow market and limit orders during the pre-open session.
From 9:05 am to 9:10 am, only limit orders may be entered, modified, or cancelled.
Order matching and trade confirmation will run from 9:10 am to 9:12 am, followed by a buffer period until 9:15 am.
Stock and index futures will use a revised reference-price calculation based mainly on trades between 3:00 pm and 3:15 pm.
Futures will have a plus or minus 3% price band from the reference price between 3:15 pm and 3:40 pm.
- Who
- The National Stock Exchange of India and traders using its equity and derivatives markets.
- What
- NSE revised its pre-open order windows, order-matching process, futures reference-price methodology, price bands, and Limit Price Protection calculations.
- When
- The changes take effect on September 7. The relevant daily windows run from 9:00 am to 9:15 am for the pre-open session and from 3:15 pm to 3:40 pm for the futures price band.
- Where
- On the National Stock Exchange of India.
- Why
- The article does not specify the reason for the rule changes.
- Effective date
- September 7
- Pre-open order entry
- Market and limit orders are permitted from 9:00 am to 9:05 am.
- Restricted order entry
- Only limit orders are permitted from 9:05 am to 9:10 am.
- Order matching
- Matching and trade confirmation take place from 9:10 am to 9:12 am.
- Futures reference price
- Normally based on the volume-weighted average price of trades executed between 3:00 pm and 3:15 pm.
- Futures price band
- Plus or minus 3% from the reference price between 3:15 pm and 3:40 pm.
- Market-order priority
- Eligible market orders receive priority over limit orders during pre-open matching.