Trading Hours

Pre-open

Trades can be entered into the system but no trading takes place. All trades are queued according to their price with priority given to trades entered first.

ASX Open

Opening starts at 10:00 a.m. (Sydney) and lasts for approximately 10 minutes.

Group 1 – 10:00:00 a.m.
Letters A-B (e.g. ANZ)



Group 2 – 10:02:15 a.m.
Letters C-F (e.g. CBA)



Group 3 – 10:04:30 a.m.
Letters G-M (e.g. GNC).


Group 4 – 10:06:45 a.m.
Letters N-R (e.g. NAB)



Group 5 – 10:09:00 a.m.
Letters S-Z (e.g. SEK)

The opening time is randomly generated and occurs up to 15 seconds either side of the times shown above. E.g. Group 1 may open at any time between 9:59:45 a.m. and 10:00:15 a.m.

Normal Trading

Orders are placed immediately into the market and transact as soon as volume is available at the specified price level.

Pre-CSPA ("Match")

You can place, remove, or amend an order, but no trades actually take place.

Orders (both buy and sell) are ranked according to their price. Who ever bids the highest (for buyers) or offers the lowest (for sellers) is placed at the front of the queue.

Often there is a crossover in the middle (e.g. the lowest seller might offer $1.55 and the highest buyer might bid $1.63).

The area in the middle where they cross over is called the “match”.

ASX Close (Closing Single Price Auction)

A random time for the close is generated by the ASX between 4:10 - 4:12 p.m. AEST.

"Matching” share prices are weighted to find their mid-point and this becomes the closing price of the share. All trades that take place on the close transact at the same price regardless of what price an investor bids or offers.

Adjust

Trading has stopped for the day. New trades cannot be entered into the system but stockbrokers can change or remove existing orders.

Purge Orders

Orders that are too far from the market or have expired are removed from the market.

System Maintenance

For administration purposes.