Stock market will be open on Saturday as NSE and BSE have decided to conduct a special live trading session as part of a test to check whether the markets can function properly from a disaster recovery site in case the primary site is hit by an unpredicted event.
This will be the third time in 2024, when the stock market is opening on a Saturday.
The special session will be divided into two sessions. The sessions will involve an intra-day switchover from the primary site to the disaster recovery site in equity and equity derivatives segments. The first session which will function from the primary site will be conducted from 9.15 am to 10 am. The second session from the disaster recovery site will open at 11:45 am and end at 12:40 pm.
Though this session will be a shorter one, it is expected to compensate albeit for the holiday on Monday, May 20 on account of voting for Lok Sabha elections in Mumbai.
Two other special sessions were conducted in 2024, one in January and the other in March. All the sessions are linked to SEBI's framework for Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and Disaster Recovery Site (DRS) for stock Exchanges.
The first special session that was held on January 20 was initially planned to test the preparedness for handling unexpected disasters. However, since January 22 which was the Ram Mandir inauguration day was declared an holiday, the Saturday session was converted into a full-fledged one.
Similarly, the second Saturday session on March 2 was conducted to ensure that trading activities continue without interruptions and that all data remains secure just in case the main trading center in Mumbai is affected by an adverse event.
Regularly markets are opened for 5 days a week from Monday to Friday and from 9:15 am till 3:30 pm.
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