NSE to conduct special live trading session on March 2, here’s why

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) announced on Wednesday that a special live trading session will be conducted on March 2, which is a Saturday. This session is being conducted to test the preparedness of the NSE in case of any unexpected disasters.

The special live trading session of the NSE has been called as part of the framework for Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and Disaster Recovery Site (DRS) for stock exchanges and depositories. This means that the first Saturday of March will not be a stock market holiday.

In its official circular, NSE said, “Members are requested to note that Exchange shall be conducting a special live trading session with intra-day switch over from Primary site to Disaster Recovery site on Saturday, March 02, 2024, in Equity and Equity Derivatives segments.”

The NSE special live trading session will include intra-day switch to the disaster recovery site from the primary official website. Further, the Saturday trading session will be divided into two parts to accommodate the switch.

The first part of the trading session will commence at 9:15 am on March 2, and run till 10 am. During this time, trading would be done through the primary NSE website. The second session will run for one hour from 11:30 am from the disaster recovery site of the NSE.

During the special live trading session, all future contracts can fluctuate within a five per cent operating range. Further, securities in the Future and Options (F&O) segment will have a price band of 5 percent, for both upper and lower limit.

It must be noted that stock markets remain closed on Saturdays and Sundays every week, as well as on national holidays. However, the special live trading session by the NSE falls under SEBI guidelines, which mandates the testing of disaster services preparedness.

The last special session of the stock market was conducted on January 20 by both NSE and BSE, as the stock markets remained closed due to the consecration ceremony of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir on January 22.