Trading periods for the Central Limit Order Book (CLOB) market model

A trading day for the "CLOB" market model at SIX Swiss Exchange is subdivided into five periods: the pre-opening, opening, continuous trading, close of trading for equity securities (including listed investment funds) and the post-trading periods.

Pre-opening

The pre-opening for the current trading day commences at 6:00 a.m. CET. As of that time, orders may be entered or deleted in the electronic order books, albeit no executions take place. To keep traders apprised of the current status of the book, a theoretical opening price is calculated and published.

Opening

The opening determines the opening price and executes the orders according to the Matching Rules. This process occurs at 8:30 a.m. for Swiss Federal Bonds, at 9 a.m. for shares and investment funds, at 9:15 a.m. for rights, and at 9:30 a.m. for bonds and international bonds (excluding Swiss Federal Bonds).

The opening price at the start of trading (or upon reopening of trading after a stop trading) is established in accordance with the principle of the largest, best execution. The price is determined in such a way that the greatest trading volume can be achieved.

Continuous trading

After the opening, continuous trading begins. New orders are continually executed against existing orders pursuant to the Matching Rules. All orders remain on the order book until a counterparty is found or they are deleted.

In the case of large price swings, trading in individual securities may be temporarily interrupted (stop trading) during the opening and continuous trading.

Close of trading

At 5:00 p.m., bonds (with the exception of international bonds), credit linked notes and bond linked notes switch to the close of trading period. For these groups of securities, the close of trading takes place without a closing auction, thus trading ceases immediately at that point. At 5:15 p.m., all shares and investment funds, at 5:20 p.m. shares in the Swiss Blue Chip Segment switch to the closing period with a closing auction that ends at 5:30 p.m. Also at 5:30 p.m., the close of trading in rights takes place without a closing auction.

Post-trading period

Depending on the specific product group, the post-trading period commences at the end of its close of trading phase. Until 10:00 p.m. on the same evening and as of 6:00 a.m. on the following trading day (i.e. the start of the next pre-opening) orders may be entered into the electronic order books.

Note: Detailed information on the exchange periods can be found in the General Conditions (GC) as well as in Directive 1 (Exchange Hours).