Trading hours of the securities market
1. What are the trading hours of the securities market?
| Auction Session | |
| Pre-opening Session | 9:00 am to 9:30 am |
| Continuous Trading Session | |
| Morning Session | 9:30 am to 12:00 noon |
| Extended Morning Session | 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm |
| Afternoon Session | 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm |
| Auction Session | 4:00 pm to a random closing between 4:08 pm and 4:10 pm |
| Closing Auction Session |
There is no Extended Morning Session and Afternoon Session on the eves of Christmas, New Year and Lunar New Year.
2. What is the Pre-opening Session?
During the pre-opening session, orders are accumulated over a certain period of time and matched at the pre-defined order matching period. Orders are matched in order type, price and time priority (at-auction orders carry a higher matching priority) at the final Indicative Equilibrium Price (IEP).
The trading system only accepts at-auction orders and at-auction limit orders. The price of an order input into the trading system must not deviate nine times or more from the previous closing price or the nominal price (as the case may be), if available, or is one-ninth or less of that price. The maximum order size is 3,000 board lots per order.
Trading hours during the pre-opening session are as follows:
|
Order Input Period 9:00 am to 9:15 am |
During the order input period, only at-auction orders and at-auction limit orders are accepted. Orders are accumulated and updated in the trading system continuously and may be modified or cancelled. |
|
No cancellation Period 9:15 am to 9:20 am |
During the No cancellation period, only at-auction orders and at-auction limit orders are accepted. Modification or cancellation of orders in the system will not be allowed. |
|
Random Matching Period 9:20 am to 9:22 am |
During the Random Matching period, only at-auction orders and at-auction limit orders are accepted. Input, modification or cancellation of orders in the system will not be allowed. No order matching will be conducted if Indicative Equilibrium Price (IEP) cannot be determined. |
|
Blocking Period 9:22 am to 9:30 am |
During the blocking period, unfilled at auction limit orders will be carried forward to CTS as limit orders. Unfilled at-auction orders will be cancelled. |
Order Input Period (9:00am - 9:15am)
In the first period (a 15-minute Order Input Period), at-auction orders and at-auction limit orders within ±15% of the previous closing price can be entered for POS Securities. Orders can also be amended or cancelled during this period.
No-cancellation Period (9:15am - 9:20am)
Starting from the second period (a 5-minute No-cancellation Period), the allowable price limits are tightened, and the prices of new at-auction limit orders that aim to be executed in the POS must be between the highest bid & lowest ask recorded at the end of Order Input Period (i.e. recorded at 9:15am).
In order to build an order book with deeper liquidity after the market opens, passive at-auction limit orders will still be accepted provided that these orders are within ±15% from the previous closing price. However, these passive orders will not be matched during the POS.
Both at-auction orders and at-auction limit orders can be entered during the No-cancellation Period, but no orders can be amended or cancelled.
Random Matching Period (9:20am - up to 9:22am)
In the third period (Random Matching Period which is up to two minutes in length), the order rules from the No-cancellation Period apply, and order matching takes place randomly within the two-minute period. The Random Matching Period will end immediately upon the start of order matching.
Order Matching (at a random time between 9:20am and 9:22am)
At the end of the Random Matching Period, orders for all POS Securities are matched at the final Indicative Equilibrium Price (IEP). Order matching is based on order type (at-auction orders first and then at-auction limit orders), price and then time priority. In cases where the final IEP cannot be established during the POS, no order matching will occur.
Blocking Period (after order matching - 9:30am)
Once order matching is completed, the Blocking Period starts immediately and continues until 9:30am. Orders can no longer be entered, amended or cancelled during the Blocking Period.
3. What is the Closing Auction Session?
HKEX’s Closing Auction Session (CAS) is designed to meet the diverse trading needs of investors by enabling trade execution at the securities’ closing prices, which is a key investment mandate of some funds such as index trackers.
The CAS lasts for about 8 to 10 minutes and consists of a reference price fixing period, an order input period, a no-cancellation period and a random closing period as follows:
|
Full Day Trading |
Half Day Trading* |
|
|---|---|---|
| Reference Price Fixing Period | 16:00 – 16:01 | 12:00 – 12:01 |
| Order Input Period | 16:01 – 16:06 | 12:01 – 12:06 |
| No-Cancellation Period | 16:06 – 16:08 | 12:06 – 12:08 |
| Random Closing Period | 16:08 – 16:10 | 12:08 – 12:10 |
During the Reference Price Fixing Period, a reference price, which sets the allowable price limit of the CAS (±5 per cent from the reference price), is calculated for each CAS security. The reference price is determined by taking the median of 5 nominal prices in the last minute of the Continuous Trading Session (CTS) and the system will take 5 snapshots on the nominal prices at 15-second interval starting from 15:59:00.
During the Order Input Period, at-auction orders and at-auction limit orders within the ±5 per cent price limit can be entered, amended or cancelled for CAS securities.
During the No Cancellation Period, at-auction orders and at-auction limit orders can be entered. However, the prices of new at-auction limit orders must be between the lowest ask and highest bid recorded at the end of Order Input Period (i.e. recorded at 16:06), and no orders can be amended or cancelled.
During the Random Closing Period, the order rules from the No Cancellation period apply and the market closes randomly within two minutes.
After the random closing period, orders for all CAS securities are matched at the final IEP. In cases where final IEP cannot be established during the CAS, the reference price will be treated as the final IEP for order matching and will become the closing price of the CAS security. Order matching is based on order type, price and then time priority.
4. Securities are traded in board lots. How many shares are there in one board lot?
Securities of less than one trading unit (i.e. one board lot) is commonly known as an odd lot in Hong Kong. Odd lots are not accepted by the Exchange’s trading system for auto-matching, but there is a special lot market in the system for odd lots trading. Exchange Participants (EPs) may post their odd lot orders onto a designated screen on the trading system for matching by other EPs. In general, share prices of odd lots are slightly lower than that of the same security in the board lot market due to their lower liquidity.
Moreover, securities worth less than $0.01 per share (below the lowest price limit in the board lot market) may also be traded in the odd lot market although they are of a quantity equal to one board lot. For example, when the nominal price of a security is at $0.01, the order price in the odd lot market can be as low as $0.001, which is the system’s lowest limit. However, the order price must not deviate nine times or more from the nominal price or is one-ninth or less of that price. Like the board lot market, the Exchange will provide the market via information vendors with real-time information about the odd lot market to enhance market transparency.
Hong Kong Stock Market Holiday Schedule
Please refer to the announcement by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and check the closing time of Hong Kong stock market this year by the following link:
https://www.hkex.com.hk/News/HKEX-Calendar?sc_lang=zh-HK
Hong Kong Stock Minimum Trading Unit and Price Rules
Securities are traded in “lots” as the trading unit. For orders executed through the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s automatic order matching system, the minimum trading unit is one board lot. In the Hong Kong stock market, the number of shares in each board lot varies depending on the stock. One board lot may consist of 100, 500, 1,000, or 2,000 shares. For example, in the current Hong Kong stock market, Tencent Holdings is traded in board lots of 100 shares, while China Tower is traded in board lots of 2,000 shares.
Hong Kong Stock Price Limits
- Are there price limits for Hong Kong stocks?
Unlike the A-share market, the Hong Kong stock market does not have a 10% daily price limit.
- What is the “Cooling-off Period” in Hong Kong stocks?
Since 22 August 2016, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has implemented the Volatility Control Mechanism (VCM), also known as the “Cooling-off Period,” to prevent extreme price fluctuations caused by major trading errors or other abnormal events and to maintain the orderly operation of the market.
The “Cooling-off Period” means that if any of the 81 constituent stocks of the Hang Seng Index or Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rises or falls by 10% within 5 minutes, the stock will enter a 5-minute “Cooling-off Period.” During this period, investors can only trade within the specified price range. After the 5-minute Cooling-off Period ends, normal trading will resume.
Hong Kong Stock Trading Mechanism
Hong Kong stocks operate on a T+0 trading basis, meaning that stocks purchased on the same day can be sold on the same day.
Hong Kong Stock Settlement and Delivery
The settlement cycle for Hong Kong stocks is T+2. This means that stocks traded today (T0) will undergo clearing by the securities broker and clearing house, with the settlement of funds and delivery of shares taking place on the second business day.
BCAN
The Hong Kong stock market implements a trading identity verification system. Applications submitted before 15:00 on a trading day are expected to require T+1 for confirmation, while applications submitted after 15:00 are expected to require T+2 for confirmation. The actual confirmation time is subject to the Exchange’s confirmation. You may only conduct Hong Kong stock trading after the confirmation is completed. If the relevant prompt no longer appears when you place subsequent orders, this means that the identity authorization has taken effect. U.S. stock trading is not affected.
Note: The Hong Kong Investor Identification Regime and the Over-the-Counter Securities Transactions Reporting Regime were implemented on 20 March 2023 and 25 September 2023, respectively. If a customer opened an account on or before 20 March 2023, they are required to manually sign the BCAN authorization. Otherwise, they will not be able to place buy orders for Hong Kong stocks.
Supported Hong Kong Stock Order Types
uSMART supports the following order types: Market Order, Auction Order, Auction Limit Order, Conditional Trigger Order, Enhanced Limit Order, Odd Lot Order, and Smart Order.
1. Market Order
A market order does not require a specified price. It buys or sells at the prevailing market price and generally has a faster execution speed, but execution is not guaranteed.
As a market order does not specify an execution price, when the market experiences rapid fluctuations, there is a greater possibility of price deviation, and the order may be executed at an unexpected price.
2. Auction Order
An auction order is a market order without a specified price and has priority over an auction limit order in the order matching sequence. After the auction matching is completed, any unmatched auction orders will be automatically cancelled.
This order type is available during the Pre-opening Auction Session and Closing Auction Session.
3. Auction Limit Order
An auction limit order is a limit order with a specified price. During the pre-opening session, after auction matching, any unmatched auction limit order whose input price does not deviate from the nominal price by 9 times or more will be converted into a limit order and carried forward to the regular morning trading session on the same day.
This order type is available during the Pre-opening Auction Session and Closing Auction Session.
4. Conditional Trigger Order
A tracking order is a special trigger-based order that requires you to specify a stop-loss / take-profit price (trigger price) and the actual order price.
Once the stock price reaches the trigger price, the system will automatically submit the specified order to the Exchange, effectively submitting a regular order automatically.
5. Enhanced Limit Order
An enhanced limit order can be matched against up to 10 price queues simultaneously, namely from the best price queue to the 10th price queue, which is 9 spreads away from the best price, provided that the execution price is not worse than the input price.
For a sell order, the input price cannot be lower than the best bid price by 10 spreads or more. For a buy order, the input price cannot be higher than the best ask price by 10 spreads or more.
Any unfilled enhanced limit order will be treated as a regular limit order and placed in the relevant price queue at the input price.
6. Odd Lot Order
(1) What is an odd lot?
Securities with fewer than one board lot are referred to as odd lots in the Hong Kong market.
For example, if Tencent Holdings has a board lot size of 100 shares and you hold only 50 Tencent shares, those 50 shares constitute an odd lot.
Odd lots may generally be created as a result of corporate actions such as stock dividends or rights issues.
(2) Can odd lots be traded?
uSMART supports odd lot trading. The supported trading hours for odd lot sell orders are 09:30–16:00 on trading days.
7. Smart Order
Smart Order consists of four types: Take Profit Sell, Stop Loss Sell, Buy at Low Price, and Sell at High Price.
(1) Take Profit Sell: Investors set a percentage increase from the latest price. Once the trigger condition is reached, the system will automatically place a buy or sell order based on the specified order price. This is generally used when an investor holds a stock and wants to lock in profits when the stock price rises.
(2) Stop Loss Sell: This works in the opposite way to Take Profit Sell. Investors set a percentage decrease from the latest price, and once the trigger condition is reached, the system will automatically place the order. It is generally used when an investor holds a stock and wants to limit potential losses when the stock price falls.
(3) Buy at Low Price: Investors set a specific trigger price. Once the stock reaches the trigger price, the system will automatically place an order at the specified order price. This is generally used when an investor expects the stock to be attractive at a lower price and wants to set an automatic buy order.
(4) Sell at High Price: Investors set a specific higher selling price. Once the stock reaches the specified price, the system will trigger and submit the order. The difference between this order type and Take Profit Sell is that Sell at High Price uses a specific price, rather than a percentage.
Both order types can be used by investors who hold a stock and want to lock in profits.
