NSE starts pre-open session for F&O from today; Here’s the timing breakdown

The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) has rolled out a new initiative for its Futures & Options (F&O) segment: a pre-open session, which will begin from today, December 8, 2025. The exchange had announced this development earlier, on November 4, 2025, giving market participants sufficient time to prepare.

The pre-open session is designed to improve transparency and reduce volatility at the opening of the markets by allowing participants to place, modify, or cancel orders before normal trading begins. It is similar to the pre-open session already available in the cash market.

Pre-Open Session Timings

The pre-open session will take place from 9:00 AM to 9:15 AM, before the start of regular trading at 9:15 AM. The session is divided into three distinct phases:

Here’s what you need to know:

The market participants can enter, modify, or cancel orders. Additionally, a system-driven random closure will occur between the 7th and 8th minute of the pre-open session.

The order matching period begins following the order entry phase. During this four-minute window, the opening price will be determined, and order matching and trade confirmation will take place.

The market is moving from the pre-open session to continuous trading, and Normal trading activities will now begin, allowing continuous buy and sell orders.

Applicability of Pre-Open Session for Futures Contracts

The pre-open session is not applicable to all futures contracts immediately. It will initially be applicable only to the current month’s futures contracts, for both single-stock futures and index futures.

There is one exception: during the last five trading days before the expiry of the current month’s contracts, the pre-open session will also extend to next month’s futures contracts. This ensures that there is a smooth transition between the expiry of one contract and the start of the next.

Illustrative Example:

The pre-open session is active for December futures starting today. The session for January futures will start only from December 23, 2025, five trading days before the December contract expiry.

Written By Sridhar J

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