Indian Stock Exchanges Special Saturday Trading Session: What Traders Must Know

National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) will hold a special live session on May 18 to perform intra-day switch-over to their respective disaster recovery site. Stock exchanges informed their trading members that a special live trading session is scheduled on Saturday, 18th May 2024 together with participating MIIs -- BSE, NSE, ICCL, NCL, CDSL, NSDL, and MSEI. During this special live trading session, mentioned MIIs will perform intra-day switch-over to their respective Disaster recovery site. This special trading session will be applicable to the Equity and Equity Derivatives segments only.

A Significant Step Towards Preparedness

"It shall be a graceful shutdown from the primary site. This is being conducted based on specific discussions with SEBI and their Technical Advisory Committee with a view to assessing the preparedness of MIIs to handle any unforeseen event impacting their operations and to restore operations from the DR Site within the stipulated Recovery Time Objective in such an event," Bombay Stock Exchange said in a notice to its members.

First of Its Kind

Brokerage firm Zerodha said that NSE & BSE are conducting a special session for live trading on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in the Equity & F&O segments with an intra-day switchover from the Primary site to the Disaster Recovery site. This is the first time that the Stock exchanges are switching trading sites from their primary sites to the disaster recovery (DR) site during a live trading session.

A Special Advisory

"We have been informed by the Stock exchange through a circular that there is a possibility of executed trades getting canceled, during the transition phase of switching from the primary to the DR site. Should such a situation occur, your closed positions during the first session will be reopened after which you will need to exit the position again in the second session," Zerodha said.

Caution for Traders

It added that intraday trading is restricted during the special Saturday trading session due to anticipated lower trading volumes. Since volumes would be less, the spreads could be wider leading to potential loss during auto square offs. Moreover, the exchanges have imposed a 5 per cent lower price band for all stocks, including those that trade in the derivative segment.

Client's Best Interest

"This increases the odds of stocks hitting upper/lower circuits potentially leading to open long or short positions at the end of the second trading session or square-offs happening which is not in the best interest of our clients," Zerodha said.

In conclusion, the special live trading session being conducted by the Indian stock exchanges is a significant step towards assessing the readiness and preparedness of market participants to handle any unforeseen events. Traders are advised to proceed with caution during this special session due to the potential cancellation of executed trades and other market dynamics that may impact their positions. It is essential for traders to be aware of the operational changes taking place and adapt their trading strategies accordingly for a smooth trading experience.