Stock Market Saturday Special Trading Session: SIPs To F&O, What Is Allowed And Not, Upstox Explains

A special live trading session will be held on BSE and NSE during the first half of Saturday. Trading will be opened in the equity and derivatives (F&O) segment. However, the January 20th trade session is nothing similar to the normal buying and selling of weekdays. The exchanges will launch the move to test the switchover from the Primary site to the Disaster Recovery (DR) site. The main aim of tomorrow's trade is to ensure that trading activities on exchanges continue without disruptions.

NSE said Members are requested to note that the Exchange shall be conducting a special live trading session with the intra-day switch over from the Primary site to the Disaster Recovery site on Saturday, January 20, 2024, in Equity and Equity Derivatives segments."

On this, leading online brokerage Upstox released a notification for its investors. It said this session is happening because SEBI wants to ensure that market intermediaries such as Exchanges, Clearing Houses, and Depository Organizations can smoothly switch to a backup plan - the Disaster Recovery (DR) site in case of an unexpected disaster. It aims to ensure that trading activities continue without interruptions and that all data remains secure.

Upstox also tweeted saying, "First session open orders will be automatically cancelled by the Exchange once the first session concludes."

The special trade will be from 9.15 am to 12.30 pm, but in two different sessions. Check the details below:

However, not everything is available for trading on BSE and NSE during the January 20th trade. Upstox guided its investors to keep the following factors in mind:

1. Securities (including stocks having F&O Contracts) will have upper and lower circuit limits set at 5%

2. Stocks with existing 2% limits will maintain that limit

3. All futures contracts will operate within a 5% range

4. Typically, stocks in the F&O segment and futures contracts enjoy flexible price bands in a regular trading session. This means that if the circuit limit is reached, it is usually relaxed to facilitate continuous trading. However, this standard practice won't apply during this special session.

5. Only delivery trades would be allowed (No Intraday).

6. No fresh position would be permitted under MTF, only square-off trades would be permitted.

7. Considering 20 January is a settlement holiday, any credits from the F&O segment and intraday profits from 19 January won't be available for trading during this session

8. Sale proceeds from BTST sell transactions on 20 January will be settled on Monday, 22 January. Credits will be available for trading on Tuesday, 23 January

9. SIP orders on Upstox won't be executed during the Special Trading Session. Scheduled SIP orders on 20 January will be processed on the next trading day i.e. 22 January

10. Brokerage charges will be applicable as usual

11. Fund withdrawals will not be processed on this day

Market regulator Sebi has allowed Market Infrastructure Intermediaries (MIIs) to carry out test and live trading sessions for the switchover of functionality from the primary site to their Disaster Recovery site (DRS).