Morning Session, Afternoon Session and Itayose
The Tokyo Stock Exchange trades 9:00–11:30 in the morning and 12:30–15:30 in the afternoon; at both the open and the close, orders are gathered first and then matched all at once at a single price.
Key takeaways
- 1Each TSE trading day is split into the morning session (zenba) 9:00–11:30 and the afternoon session (goba) 12:30–15:30, with an hour's lunch break in between.
- 2The open, the afternoon open and the close use itayose (call auction) to match all at once at a single price; in between is zaraba (continuous trading), where orders match as they arrive.
- 3Since November 5, 2024 the close has moved from 15:00 to 15:30, and the last 5 minutes are the closing auction, which sets the closing price.
- 4Tokyo has no daylight saving time; the TSE opens at 9:00 Tokyo time, which is 00:00 in London in winter and 01:00 in summer.
Check your understanding
Get every question right to complete this lesson
1.Since November 2024, what time does the Tokyo Stock Exchange close in the afternoon?
2.When is itayose used?
3.You place a buy order at 11:45 Tokyo time. What happens?
Text version · Japan Stock Rules, lesson 1: “Morning Session, Afternoon Session and Itayose”
The Tokyo Stock Exchange trades 9:00–11:30 in the morning and 12:30–15:30 in the afternoon; at both the open and the close, orders are gathered first and then matched all at once at a single price.
Morning session, afternoon session
Tokyo Stock Exchange trading hours: morning session 9:00–11:30, afternoon session 12:30–15:30, with an hour's lunch break. You can place orders from 8:00, but nothing trades until the 9:00 open.
Itayose at the open and close
The open, the afternoon open and the close use itayose (call auction): orders are gathered first, then the price that lets the most orders trade is found, and everyone trades at that one price. In between is zaraba (continuous session), continuous trading where orders match as they arrive.
Close extended to 15:30
From November 5, 2024 the Tokyo Stock Exchange moved its close from 15:00 to 15:30; 15:25–15:30 is the closing auction, which sets the closing price. Tokyo has no daylight saving time and is 8–9 hours ahead of London (London changes its clocks for summer).
Key takeaways
- Each TSE trading day is split into the morning session (zenba) 9:00–11:30 and the afternoon session (goba) 12:30–15:30, with an hour's lunch break in between.
- The open, the afternoon open and the close use itayose (call auction) to match all at once at a single price; in between is zaraba (continuous trading), where orders match as they arrive.
- Since November 5, 2024 the close has moved from 15:00 to 15:30, and the last 5 minutes are the closing auction, which sets the closing price.
- Tokyo has no daylight saving time; the TSE opens at 9:00 Tokyo time, which is 00:00 in London in winter and 01:00 in summer.
Try it yourself
You can do these exercises in this lesson's interactive simulation:
- Press ▶ and stop at 8:30: what is the exchange doing? When could an order placed now fill?
- Drag the time to 11:50: which session is this? What happens if you order now?
- Drag to 15:27: which session is this? How is the closing price set?
- In the itayose simulator, switch to “good news” and play: how far above the reference price is the open? At what price does your buy order fill?
Quiz and explanations
- 1. Since November 2024, what time does the Tokyo Stock Exchange close in the afternoon?
- Answer: 15:30.The TSE extended its close to 15:30, and 15:25–15:30 is the closing auction.
- 2. When is itayose used?
- Answer: At the open, the afternoon open, the close, and when trading restarts after a halt.Itayose is used whenever a price needs to be set all at once: orders are gathered first, then matched at a single price.
- 3. You place a buy order at 11:45 Tokyo time. What happens?
- Answer: Nothing is matched during the lunch break; the earliest it can fill is in the itayose at the 12:30 afternoon open.11:30–12:30 is the lunch break and nothing is matched; brokers can take the order first and enter it into the itayose at the 12:30 afternoon open.
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.
- itayose (call auction) (Itayose (Call Auction)): The call auction Japanese markets use at the open, at the close and when trading restarts after a halt: orders are gathered first, then matched all at once at a single price.
- trading hours (Trading Hours): The time each day when the exchange accepts orders and matches trades, usually split into an opening auction, continuous trading, a lunch break and a closing auction, varying by market.
- opening price (Opening Price): The first trade price of each trading day, set by an opening auction at many exchanges.
- price-time priority (Price-Time Priority): The matching rule: better-priced orders fill first, and orders at the same price queue in the order they arrived.
- zaraba (continuous session) (Zaraba (Continuous Session)): The continuous trading period in Japanese markets between the open and the closing auction: an order trades as soon as it can be matched.