Friday, September 4, 2026 9:10 pm
From 7 September 2026, there are a few changes to how orders are placed and matched during the pre-open session.
Also, trading in Gold and Silver ETFs will now be allowed during the pre-open session.
Other ETFs (including Equity, Debt, Liquid and Overnight ETFs) will not be available (same as current rules).
The method to determine the base price and the price bands of ETFs is also changing.
What is a pre-open session? The pre-open session brings together overnight orders, including those reacting to news and market developments. This helps discover a more stable opening price and reduce volatility at 9:15 AM.
Here’s everything you need to understand what’s changing 👇
Changes to the pre-open session:
The pre-open session will continue to run from 9:00 AM to 9:15 AM, but order placement and matching will work differently. Here’s a brief of how it’s changing:
|  Time Period |                                                   Current Activity                                                  |                                                      From 7 Sept 2026                                                    |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 AM – 9:05 AM |                              Market and limit orders can be placed, modified, or cancelled.                             |                                 Market and limit orders can be placed, modified, or cancelled.                               |
| 9:05 AM – 9:08 AM | Market and limit orders can be placed, modified, or cancelled. Order entry closes randomly between 9:07 AM and 9:08 AM. |     Only limit orders can be placed, modified, or cancelled. Market orders placed earlier cannot be modified or cancelled.   |
| 9:08 AM – 9:10 AM |                                 Orders are matched, and the opening price is determined.                                | The exchange will randomly close order entry during this period. Order matching starts immediately after order entry closes. |
| 9:10 AM – 9:12 AM |                                 Orders are matched, and the opening price is determined.                                |                         The opening price is determined, orders are matched, and trades are confirmed.                       |
| 9:12 AM – 9:15 AM |                                        The market transitions to regular trading.                                       |                                           The market transitions to regular trading.                                         |
Key changes to keep a note of:
- Market orders can be placed only during the first five minutes.
- Limit-order entry continues until the exchange randomly closes the order-entry period between 9:08 AM and 9:10 AM.
- Order matching starts immediately once order entry closes.
- Market orders will now get priority over limit orders during matching.
Earlier, limit orders had priority over market orders during pre-open matching. From 7 Sept, eligible market orders will get priority over limit orders.
The matching sequence will be:
- Market orders will first be matched with other market orders based on time.
- Remaining market orders will then be matched with eligible limit orders.
- Remaining limit orders will be matched with each other based on price and time priority.
All matched trades will be executed at the opening price discovered during the pre-open session.
Please note: Stop-loss, IOC, and Disclosed Quantity orders will not be allowed during the pre-open session.
Gold & Silver ETFs will now trade in the pre-open session
From 7 Sept, Gold and Silver ETFs will participate in the pre-open session for the first time.
As gold and silver prices move in international markets while Indian markets are closed, this will help discover an opening price before regular trading begins at 9:15 AM.
Other ETFs, including Equity, Debt, Liquid, and Overnight ETFs, will continue to start trading at 9:15 AM.
The base price used for ETF price bands is changing
ETFs have upper and lower price limits that control how much their prices can move in a day. These limits are based on a base price.
Currently, the base price for equity, debt, and commodity ETFs is their T-2 NAV (NAV from two trading days ago). This can become outdated when the underlying asset moves sharply.
From 7 Sept, the base price will instead be based on the ETF’s previous-day closing price, calculated using the volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of trades in the last 30 minutes.
If the ETF doesn’t trade during those 30 minutes, its last traded price will be used. If it doesn’t trade at all that day, the latest available closing NAV will be used.
This will keep ETF price bands closer to their actual market price and give them more room to move with the underlying asset.
ETF price bands are also changing
From 7 Sept, ETFs will no longer have the same fixed 20% price band.
- Equity & Debt ETFs: Start with a ±10% band. This can widen by 5% at a time, up to ±20%, after a cooling-off period.
- Gold & Silver ETFs: Start with a ±6% band. This can widen by 3% at a time. Exchanges may widen it further if global gold or silver prices move sharply.
- Liquid & Overnight ETFs: Fixed ±5% band.
The cooling-off period is generally 15 minutes, during which trading can continue within the existing price band. In the last 30 minutes of the day, it is reduced to 5 minutes.
Please take note of these changes and plan your trades accordingly.
Happy Trading,
Team Upstox
