Trading days
The Egyptian Exchange trades Sunday to Thursday. Friday and Saturday are off, as are the official holidays the exchange announces. So an order you send on a Friday cannot execute until the market opens again.
The regular session opens at 10:00 and closes at 14:30 Cairo time. Inside that day, though, it is not one block: it is 4 phases in a row.
The phases of the day
- The discovery sessionFrom 9:30. Orders gather and nothing trades. This phase closes at a random moment between 9:50 and 10:00, and sets the opening price.
- Continuous tradingFrom 10:00 to 14:15. Any buy order that meets a sell order at a matching price executes at once.
- The closing auctionFrom 14:15 to 14:25. Orders gather again; this auction also closes at a random moment near its end, and sets the closing price.
- Trading at the closeFrom 14:25 to 14:30. Trades can still happen, but only at the closing price just set.
The two auctions get a lesson of their own, because they set prices differently from the rest of the day.
Why timing matters for your order
Ramadan and holidays
In Ramadan the session closes early, at 13:30 instead of 14:30. The closing auction and trading at the close move with it, keeping the same distance from the closing bell. Holidays are announced by the exchange ahead of time, and those tied to religious feasts can shift with the official decision, so check the announcement each year.
See whether the market is open
The market today page shows the session status right now and a summary of the day.
Check yourself
1. Which of these days does the Egyptian Exchange normally trade?
2. You send an order at 9:40 in the morning. When is the earliest it can execute?
Summary
- Trading runs Sunday to Thursday, 10:00 to 14:30 Cairo time, except official holidays.
- The day has four phases: discovery, continuous trading, closing auction, trading at the close.
- In Ramadan the session closes at 13:30; the official notice is the reference for any change.