NSE To Bring Pre-Open Trading In Equity Futures From Dec. 8

The National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. will introduce a pre-open session for index and stock futures in the equity derivatives segment from Dec. 8, 2025, onwards. The trading window will be made available for testing from Oct. 4, 2025, in a test market environment.

NSE will conduct mock sessions for testing before going live, as per a circular issued late Thursday. "Other operational modalities related to implementation of Pre-Open session in Equity Derivatives shall be published via separate circular," it said.

Rival BSE Ltd. will also introduce its pre-open session in the derivatives segment from Dec. 8, and testing will start from Oct. 6.

Both bourses already support pre-open session trading in the equity segment that runs between 9:00 a.m. and 9:15 a.m.

Their move is in line with the Securities and Exchange Board of India direction in May that extended the pre-open session to derivatives. This will initially cover current-month futures contracts. Also, in the last five trading days before expiry, it will include next-month futures to help manage rollover activity smoothly.

SEBI had mandated a phased rollout by December.