Trading Hours: The Sessions of the Day

Orders from 9:15, trading from 9:30

9:15–9:25 is the opening call auction: the exchange collects orders without trading, then matches them all at once at 9:25 to set the opening price. From 9:25 to 9:30 you can keep placing orders, but they're only processed at 9:30.

No cancelling after 9:20

Orders placed 9:15–9:20 can be cancelled; from 9:20 to 9:25 you can place orders but not cancel them, so nobody can post a huge order to sway the opening price and pull it at the last second.

Lunch break and closing auction

9:30–11:30 and 13:00–14:57 are continuous trading; 11:30–13:00 is the lunch break. 14:57–15:00 is the closing auction: no cancelling, and the closing price is set in those 3 minutes.

Key takeaways

• 9:15–9:25 is the opening call auction: orders are collected but nothing trades, and you can't cancel after 9:20.
• 9:30–11:30 and 13:00–14:57 are continuous trading, where orders match as soon as they arrive; 11:30–13:00 is the lunch break.
• 14:57–15:00 is the closing call auction: no cancelling in those 3 minutes, and it sets the closing price.
• The market is closed on weekends and public holidays, so after the last trading day before a long holiday you may wait several days to trade again.

Try it yourself

You can do these exercises in this lesson's interactive simulation:

1. Press ▶ and stop at 9:22: can you still cancel? What is the exchange doing?
2. Drag the time to 12:10: what happens if you place an order now?
3. Drag to 14:58: which session is this? How is the closing price set?
4. Set “My time zone” to New York and toggle summer and winter: what time is the A-share open in New York?

Quiz and explanations

1. At 9:22 you notice you entered the wrong price and want to cancel. What happens?

Answer: The cancellation won't be processed; you can only wait for the auction result.9:20–9:25 is the last 5 minutes of the opening call auction, and the exchange doesn't accept cancellations.

2. How is the A-share closing price set?

Answer: The price matched in the 14:57–15:00 closing call auction.Both the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets run a closing call auction from 14:57 to 15:00, matching the closing price at a single price.

3. You place a buy order at 12:00. What happens?

Answer: The exchange isn't matching; the earliest it can fill is after the 13:00 afternoon open.11:30–13:00 is the lunch break and the exchange doesn't match; some brokers take the order and send it to the exchange at 13:00.

Terms in this lesson

• call auction (Call Auction): Orders are collected for a while without trading, then all matched at once at a single price, often used at the open and close.
• closing auction (Closing Auction): For a few minutes before the close, orders are collected without trading, then matched all at once at a single price, which becomes the closing price.
• continuous trading (Continuous Trading): Normal trading after the open: each new order is matched against the order book as soon as it arrives, so the price changes with every trade.