What are the stock market timings in India?

The stock markets in India are opened from Monday to Friday. It opens every day at 9:15 am and closes at 3:30 pm

The timings of the Indian stock are divided into three sections

1) Normal trading session
2) Pre-opening session
3) Post-closing session

1) Normal trading session:

Normal trading session starts from 9:15 am and closes at 3:30 pm. This is the actual time where most of the trading takes place. The normal trading sessions follows bilateral order matching system which means when buying price is equal to selling price, the transaction gets complete. Transactions are done based on price and time priority.

2) Pre-opening session:

Pre-opening session is between 9:00 am and 9:15 am. There are three slots in the pre-opening session

9:00 am – 9:08 am

This is the order entry period
You can place an order to buy or sell shares during this time period
You can also make any changes or modifications to the orders placed

9:08 am – 9:12 am

This slot is used for order matching and calculating the opening price of the normal session
You cannot make any modifications to the orders placed in this slot.

9:12 am – 9:15 am

This slot is called buffer period, a 3 min period before the start of the normal trading session for smooth transition from pre-opening session to normal trading session.

The pre-opening session helps to determine the opening price for the normal trading session through multi-lateral order matching system. The price at which most buy and sell orders get matched in the pre-opening session becomes the opening price for the normal trading session
However, most traders don’t use the pre-opening session as there is a lot of volatility in the markets during the initial 25-30 minutes So, it’s advisable to be cautious for the first 30 minutes as many traders’ place buy and sell orders.

3) Post-closing session:

The time period between 3:30 PM to 3:40 PM is used for the calculation of closing prices. When the market closes at 3:30 pm, the price at which it closes is not the closing price.
The closing price of a stock is the weighted average price between 3:00 pm – 3:30 pm
The closing price of indices like Nifty and Sensex, is the weighted average of the all stocks in Nifty and Sensex for the last 30 minutes (3:00 pm – 3:30 pm)

The time period between 3:40 PM to 4:00 PM is the duration of the post-closing session. You can place orders to buy or sell stocks in the post-closing session at the closing price.
NOTE: Pre-opening and Post-closing session is only available for stocks and not in futures and options.
Stocks markets in India are closed on weekends i.e. Saturday and Sunday and on all national holidays. You can find the list of holidays here:
https://www.nseindia.com/global/content/market_timings_holidays/market_timings_holidays.htm
The Indian stock market is also open for a special trading session on Diwali which is known as ‘Mahurat Trading’. It is usually in the evening for a period of 60 minutes.