What Time Does the Australia Stock Market Open & Close?

Laelia Yang November 16, 2021 | 20:03

When does the Australian stock market (Australian Securities Exchange) open or close? Check out the opening & closing hours, break, holidays and more.

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The Australia Stock Market - Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) opening times are the hours that stock exchanges are open for business and reflect an exchange’s geographic location.

Knowinsiders provides the information of opening and closing times as well as the Australia Market (Australian Securities Exchange) holidays for all years.

What Is the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and History?

The Australian Securities Exchange is headquartered in Sydney, Australia. The Exchange in its current form was created through the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and Sydney Futures Exchange in 2006.

The ASX acts as a market operator, clearinghouse, and payments facilitator. It also provides educational materials to retail investors.

Understanding the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)

ASX is consistently ranked among the top exchanges globally. Other major exchanges include the Tokyo Stock Exchange or TSE, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Nasdaq, and the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Each exchange has specific listing requirements that include regular financial reports and minimum capital requirements.

For example, in 2021, the NYSE has a key listing requirement that stipulated aggregate shareholders equity for the last three fiscal years of greater than or equal to $10 million, a global market capitalization of $200 million, and a minimum share price of $4. In addition, for initial public offerings and secondary issuers must have 400 shareholders.3

ASX and Education

The Australian Securities Exchange has a strong emphasis on educating visitors to its website, the investing public, and current and potential listers. For example, for first-time investors, ASX offers free resources for understanding the public markets, exploring different asset classes, and developing a personal investment strategy. Visitors can download a series of tutorials and guidebooks. In addition, ASX offers a game-version of trading where players do not have to risk real money; instead, they can learn the basics in a risk-free environment.

When Does the Australian Stock Market Open & Close?

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The Australian stock exchange (ASX) is based in Sydney and operates normal trading hours between 10 am-4 pm Australian eastern standard or daylight time.

Pre-opening takes place between 7 am-10 am, where brokers can enter orders into the ASX Trade in preparation for the market opening. At this time, investors can also enter orders online, which are queued and traded upon opening.

Overnight trading refers to trading during the ‘adjust phase’ between 4:12 pm-5 pm, where brokers can cancel or amend orders, etc. New orders are not taken at this time.

Country	Stock Exchange	Local time (UTC)	Time Zone
Australia	Australian Securities Exchange	10am to 4pm	UTC+10 (+11)

Pre-opening Phase

Pre-opening takes place from 7:00 am to 10:00 am, Sydney time. During Pre-opening:

-Brokers enter orders into ASX Trade in preparation for the market opening.

-ASX Trade does not trade orders.

-Investors may enter orders online. The orders are queued according to price-time priority and will not trade until the market opens.

Overnight and overseas trades may be reported until 9:45 am, Sydney time. These trades must take place according to ASX Operating Rules.

Opening Phase

The opening takes place at 10:00 am Sydney time and lasts for about 10 minutes. ASX Trade calculates opening prices during this phase. Securities open in five groups, according to the starting letter of their ASX code:

Group 1 10:00:00 am +/- 15 secs 0-9 and A-B, e.g. ANZ, BHP

Group 2 10:02:15 am +/- 15 secs C-F, e.g. CPU, FXJ

Group 3 10:04:30 am +/- 15 secs G-M, e.g. GPT

Group 4 10:06:45 am +/- 15 secs N-R, e.g. QAN

Group 5 10:09:00 am +/- 15 secs S-Z, e.g. TLS

The time is randomly generated by ASX Trade and occurs up to 15 seconds on either side of the times given above, e.g. group 1 may open at any time between 9:59:45 am and 10:00:15 am.

Equity market phases (Sydney times)

The market goes through a number of phases on any trading day. The particular market phase determines the type of action that may be taken for an order on ASX Trade, which in turn affects how trading is conducted.

7am - 10am	Pre-open
10am*	Open
10am - 4pm	Normal Trading
4pm - 4:10pm	Pre CSPA
4:10pm - 4:12pm	Closing Single Price Auction
4:12pm - 4:42pm	Adjust
4:42pm - 6:50pm	Adjust ON
6:50pm - 6:59pm	Purge Orders
6:59pm - 7pm	System Maintenance
7:00pm - 8:40pm	Close
8:40pm - 2:25am	System Unavailable
2:25am - 7:00am	Close

Does the ASX close for Lunch?

No, the ASX does not close for lunch.

Many markets in Asia and a few markets in the Middle East close for lunch. Markets in most of the rest of the world do not close for lunch.

There is typically less liquidity during the middle of the day. Most trading happens near the beginning and end of the day. Having a shorter trading window can help to make markets more efficient by increasing liquidity and reducing spreads.

Does the ASX open on Saturday or Sunday?

No, the ASX doesn't open on the weekends.

The London Stock Exchange is open for trading Monday-Friday. Stock Exchanges in the US, Europe, and Asia follow the typical Monday to Friday schedule. However, in the Middle East, the work week typically runs from Sunday through Thursday.

How do Stock Exchanges Work?

Various financial instruments are all traded on the stock exchange such as stocks, derivatives, and commodities among others. The role of an exchange is to provide investors and traders with fair trading experience. Trading normally takes place between Monday and Friday. In order to access the financial markets, you will need to have a trading account with a broker.

Why do stock exchanges have different trading hours?

Stock markets are open according to the country’s relevant timezone, during the country’s markets hours it will have a high level of its own residents trading as well as international market participants. Having certain market hours will ensure that there is a high level of liquidity for each market.

What happens if you place a trade outside of market hours?

If you do place a trade outside of market hours then the order will be added to a queue, once the market opens then the order will be executed. It is important to note, that if this does happen then the trader can experience slippage from when they first placed the order to when it was actually executed.

How Long is the Australia Stock Exchange Open For?

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The Australia Stock Exchange is open for a total of 6hours per day. Most markets are open 5 to 7 hours per day. Smaller markets tend to be open for short periods.

A shorter trading session compresses all trading activity into a smaller time period which leads to increased liquidity, smaller spreads, and more efficient markets. Shorter trading sessions can also lead to less volatility. Material news during trading hours can result in price volatility. With a smaller trading period, more news will happen outside regular trading hours which gives investors more time to digest information and can prevent rushed trading decisions.

Does the ASX have After-Hours Trading?

Yes, the ASX does have extended hours trading. The Pre-Trading Session is from 7:00 am to 10:00 am. The Post-Trading Session is from 4:12 pm to 4:42 pm and 4:42 pm to 6:50 pm.

Shares can always be traded on the Australia Stock Exchange during regular trading hours.

Extended Trading Hours are sessions before and after the official trading session during which trading can be conducted electronically. Pre-market trading and after-hours trading generally have less volume than during the regular trading hours and may have different trading rules.

There is limited liquidity during extended hours which can cause increased volatility, larger spreads, and greater price uncertainty. Earnings reports and other significant news are typically announced after regular trading hours end. This can lead to major price swings in after-hours markets.

ASX Stock Market Holidays And The Impact On Trading Services

Public Holiday	ASX Trading	Business Day	CHESS Settlement
New Year's Day	CLOSED	No	No Settlement
Australia Day	CLOSED	No	No Settlement
Good Friday	CLOSED	No	No Settlement
Easter Monday	CLOSED	No	No Settlement
ANZAC Day	CLOSED	No	No Settlement
Queen's Birthday	CLOSED	No	No Settlement
Last Day Before Christmas	EARLY CLOSE¹	Yes	Settlement
Christmas Day	CLOSED	No	No Settlement
Boxing Day	CLOSED	No	No Settlement
Last Day Of Year	EARLY CLOSE¹	Yes	Settlement

Top 10 Largest Stock Exchanges In The World

What is the best time to trade shares?

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The best time to trade shares is around major news and events – market-moving events can change from country to country, exchange to exchange, and stock to stock. This makes it important to have an understanding of all the factors that could move your share’s price before you take a position.

Examples of events to watch out for include:

Company earnings

Macroeconomic indicators

Political announcements and policy changes

Power hour stock market

While power hours will depend on each individual stock exchange’s opening hours, the global power hour is generally considered to be between 7 pm and 8 pm (UTC) when the US stock market is winding down. Power hour is the time just before a market closes. A lot of share traders will look to trade within power hours as it tends to see a lot of volatility and liquidity as market participants adjust their positions before the market shuts.

What is end-of-day trading? End-of-day trading is simply the practice of making decisions very close to – or even after – markets close. Generally, end-of-day trading occurs in the last hour or two of the trading day and is specific to the stock market. While most day traders will be looking to close out their positions at market close, some traders will choose to enter into new positions to make end-of-day profits – whether just for a few minutes before the markets close to taking advantage of end-of-day movements, or to hold overnight. End-of-day trading is also known as power hour, because this tends to be when a lot of trading happens, and the high volume can create a lot of opportunities. Power hour for stock markets is often considered to be between 7 pm to 8 pm (UTC).

What is end-of-day trading?

End-of-day trading is simply the practice of making decisions very close to – or even after – markets close. Generally, end-of-day trading occurs in the last hour or two of the trading day and is specific to the stock market.

While most day traders will be looking to close out their positions at market close, some traders will choose to enter into new positions to make end-of-day profits – whether just for a few minutes before the markets close to taking advantage of end-of-day movements, or to hold overnight.

End-of-day trading is also known as power hour, because this tends to be when a lot of trading happens, and the high volume can create a lot of opportunities. Power hour for stock markets is often considered to be between 7 pm to 8 pm (UTC).

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