The National Stock Exchange (NSE) is set to open for trading on Saturday, May 18, 2024, as part of its efforts to test its readiness in handling unexpected disasters. This session will mark the second instance in 2024 when the NSE conducts live trading on a weekend.
The initiative is aligned with guidelines from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) aimed at establishing robust Business Continuity Plans (BCP) and Disaster Recovery Sites (DRS) for stock exchanges and depositories.
During this special trading session, scheduled from 9:15 am to 12:40 pm, the NSE will conduct intra-day switching over from the primary site to the disaster recovery site. The session will be divided into two parts, with normal trading operations in the first part and operations from the disaster recovery site in the second part.
All securities traded during this session, including derivative products, will have a maximum price band of 5%. Securities currently under a 2% or lower price band will continue within their respective bands.
This is not the first time such disaster recovery plans have been tested. A similar exercise was carried out on March 2, 2024. Such sessions are in line with Sebi's guidelines to ensure preparedness for handling unexpected disasters from the main trading center in Mumbai.
The upcoming session will be the third Saturday trading session of the year, following earlier sessions on January 20 and March 2, 2024. Previous disaster recovery sessions have also been conducted by the exchanges in 2016 and 2017.
