The National Stock Exchange of India will roll out a dedicated pre-open session for the futures & options (F&O) segment beginning December 8, 2025. This 15-minute session, designed to improve price discovery and smooth the opening of derivatives trading, will be divided into three key phases.
From 9:00 am to 9:08 am, participants can place, modify or cancel orders during the “Order Entry” period. The system may randomly close this phase between the 7th and 8th minute. Between 9:08 am and 9:12 am, the “Order Matching & Trade Confirmation” phase begins, when the equilibrium opening price is determined and orders are matched. No new orders or modifications are permitted during this period. A “Buffer Period” from 9:12 am to 9:15 am will bridge the pre-open and the main trading session.
The session will apply to current-month futures on single stocks and indices. Additionally, during the last five trading days of a contract, the next-month futures will also fall under the pre-open mechanism. Far-month (M3) contracts, options, spread trades and futures on ex-date stocks will be excluded.
The market parameters such as tick size, lot size, price bands and order types will remain consistent with existing rules. Both limit and market orders can be placed in the order entry phase, but stop-loss and Immediate or Cancel (IOC) orders will not be allowed. Real-time data showing indicative price, supply/demand metrics and equilibrium price will be displayed during the session.
In effect, this step is intended to enhance transparency and reduce volatility during the opening moments of the derivatives market. For traders, this means that the opening price for key derivative contracts may become more stable and predictable. It also underscores the exchange’s effort to align the derivatives opening process more closely with the cash equity market.
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