Learn · Track 2: How the PSX works · lesson 1 of 9 · Beginner
PSX Friday timing: 9:17–12:00 and 2:32–4:30 pm
PSX Friday timing: 9:17 am–12:00 pm and 2:32–4:30 pm PKT, with a Jumu'ah break. Closing time 4:30 pm on Friday, 3:30 pm Monday to Thursday.
By the SuperX research team · Reviewed by Umair Aslam, Co-founder & CEO · Updated
The Pakistan Stock Exchange trades Monday to Thursday 9:32 am to 3:30 pm, and on Friday 9:17 am to 12:00 pm and 2:32 pm to 4:30 pm with the Jumu’ah prayer break in between (12:00 to 2:15 pm); it is closed Saturday and Sunday, and all times are Pakistan time. That is the PSX Friday timing (PSX Friday ka waqt): the closing time is 3:30 pm Monday to Thursday and 4:30 pm on Friday. Each session opens with a 15-minute pre-open (9:15 am Monday to Thursday, 9:00 am and 2:15 pm on Friday) and the day ends with a 15-minute post-close session at the closing price (3:35 to 3:50 pm, or 4:35 to 4:50 pm on Friday). These are the timings PSX publishes on its trading hours page, as checked on 3 November 2026; Ramadan and holidays change them, as below.
As checked on 3 November 2026 on the PSX trading hours page (Pakistan time):
| Session | Monday to Thursday | Friday, 1st session | Friday, 2nd session |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-open | 9:15 to 9:30 am | 9:00 to 9:15 am | 2:15 to 2:30 pm |
| Order matching and confirmation | 9:30 to 9:32 am | 9:15 to 9:17 am | 2:30 to 2:32 pm |
| Trading (open) | 9:32 am to 3:30 pm | 9:17 am to 12:00 pm | 2:32 pm to 4:30 pm |
| Closing time | 3:30 pm | 12:00 pm | 4:30 pm |
| Post-close | 3:35 to 3:50 pm | — | 4:35 to 4:50 pm |
The Friday break, from 12:00 pm to 2:15 pm, is the PSX Friday break time people search for: no orders are matched in it.
The regular session, step by step
| Phase | Time (Monday to Thursday) | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-open | 9:15 to 9:30 am | Orders can be entered but are not matched, and PSX’s notes say an order entered in pre-open cannot be cancelled, modified or suspended until the break ends; an indicative opening price is displayed |
| Opening match | 9:30 to 9:32 am | Pre-open orders are matched at a single equilibrium price |
| Continuous trading | 9:32 am to 3:30 pm | Normal order matching; this is “the market” |
| Close | 3:30 pm | Continuous matching stops; the official closing price is computed |
| Post-close | 3:35 to 3:50 pm | Orders execute at the closing price only |
Pre-open exists so that overnight news can be absorbed before the first trade. Everyone sees the indicative price move as orders arrive; nobody trades on it. At the opening match, the system finds the price at which the most shares change hands and executes everything at that level.
Continuous trading is the six-hour session most people picture. Orders are matched as they arrive, price-time priority, with circuit breakers pausing individual stocks or the whole market on outsized moves under PSX’s rules.
The close is not simply the last trade. PSX’s regulations define an official closing price, currently based on a volume-weighted average over the final minutes of continuous trading rather than the final tick. That is why the “close” on a data site can differ slightly from the last price you saw flash by, and why the closing price is the one used for settlement values, index levels and your broker’s end-of-day valuation.
Post-close is a short session in which orders are executed at that official closing price and nothing else. It exists mainly for institutions that need to trade at the close, but any account can use it.
Friday’s split session
Friday is the one day the schedule looks different. Trading runs from 9:17 am until 12:00 pm, stops for Jumu’ah prayers, and a second pre-open starts at 2:15 pm; trading resumes at 2:32 pm and ends at 4:30 pm, an hour later than the usual close. Each half has its own pre-open, and the post-close (4:35 to 4:50 pm) follows the afternoon session.
Two practical points. Orders sitting in the book at the break generally carry into the afternoon session rather than being cancelled, but confirm your broker’s handling of day orders. And Friday’s afternoon session is short, so news that lands during the break is priced in a compressed window. If you are watching a holding around a book closure, remember that Friday is still one trading day for settlement purposes, whatever its shape.
Ramadan and Eid timings
Every Ramadan, PSX shortens the trading day, with the session typically ending in the early afternoon, and adjusts the Friday split. The exact timings are announced in a notice before Ramadan begins and vary from year to year, so do not assume last year’s schedule.
Eid ul Fitr and Eid ul Adha are the two holidays that cannot be fixed in advance because they depend on the moon sighting. The federal government declares the dates, and PSX follows with a notice, sometimes only a day or two before the closure. Ashura (9 and 10 Muharram) and Eid Milad un Nabi are lunar dates too. If you hold a position across those weeks, expect the number of trading days to shift.
How holidays are announced
PSX publishes a holiday calendar for each year on its website, based on the public holidays notified by the federal government: fixed dates such as Kashmir Day (5 February), Pakistan Day (23 March), Labour Day (1 May), Independence Day (14 August) and Quaid-e-Azam Day (25 December), plus the lunar holidays slotted in once their dates are known. Additional closures are announced by notice as they arise.
Two subtleties. First, PSX is a securities market that settles through banks, so a bank holiday can close it even when there is no public holiday; the 1 July bank closing day is the usual example, and PSX’s annual calendar states whether the exchange follows it. Second, a market that is open when banks are closed cannot settle, and settlement dates move accordingly. NCCPL, which runs clearing and settlement, publishes its own calendar that aligns with the exchange.
Why holidays move ex-dates and settlement
Under PSX’s T+1 settlement, a share you buy on one trading day arrives in your CDC account on the next trading day, not the next calendar day. A holiday in between pushes settlement back. That matters most around dividends: the ex-date is derived by counting one trading day back from book closure, so a holiday can move the buy-by date earlier than you expect. SuperX’s dividend calendar applies the exchange holiday list when it derives ex-dates, and marks each one as derived or confirmed; the dividends explainer walks through the counting.
What “as of” means on delayed data sites
Most free price data, SuperX’s included, is delayed rather than real-time; PSX licenses its live feed separately. Every price on a page therefore carries an “as of” timestamp, and reading it correctly avoids a lot of confusion.
During continuous trading, “as of 11:42 am” means the snapshot was taken then and the true price is a few minutes ahead. After the close, the timestamp stops at the closing time and the price shown is the official close, not the last trade. On a weekend or holiday, the date shown is the last trading day: a page viewed on Sunday shows Friday’s close, and one viewed on the second day of Eid shows the last pre-Eid session. During the Friday break, prices sit at the morning session’s last state until the afternoon resumes. And before the opening match, a page shows the previous close with a zero change, because nothing has traded yet.
On the markets page and each stock page, SuperX shows a “data as of” timestamp marked as delayed, and a market-closed status with the next opening time, so that “unchanged since 3:30 pm” reads as closed rather than stuck.
For overseas readers: Pakistan Standard Time
Pakistan is on UTC+5 all year, with no daylight saving. The 9:32 am PSX open (Monday to Thursday) is 4:32 am UTC, 8:32 am in the Gulf (UTC+4) and 7:32 am in Saudi Arabia (UTC+3). Investors in Europe and North America are trading in their early morning or the middle of their night; the Friday afternoon session ending at 4:30 pm PKT is 11:30 am UTC. Overseas Pakistanis holding through a Roshan Digital Account face the same schedule as everyone else; the exchange does not run a separate session for them.
How SuperX helps
The markets page shows whether the market is open or closed and when it next opens, with the index levels and a “data as of” timestamp for the last snapshot. Each stock page carries the same timestamp, so you always know how old a price is. The portfolio tracker values your holdings at the last available price, which on a holiday means the last session’s close, and says so rather than pretending the market is open.
Frequently asked questions
What is the PSX Friday timing?
On Friday the PSX trades from 9:17 am to 12:00 pm and again from 2:32 pm to 4:30 pm Pakistan time, as published on psx.com.pk (checked 3 November 2026). Each half starts with a 15-minute pre-open.
What is the PSX Friday break time?
Trading stops at 12:00 pm for Jumu’ah prayers. The second pre-open starts at 2:15 pm and trading resumes at 2:32 pm.
What is the PSX closing time?
The market closes at 3:30 pm Monday to Thursday and at 4:30 pm on Friday, when the second session ends. The Friday morning session closes at 12:00 pm for the Jumu’ah break. A 15-minute post-close session follows each day’s close.
What are PSX trading hours from Monday to Thursday?
Pre-open runs from 9:15 to 9:30 am, trading from 9:32 am to 3:30 pm, and the post-close session from 3:35 to 3:50 pm, Pakistan time.
Does PSX trade on Saturday or Sunday?
No. The exchange trades Monday to Friday; public holidays and Ramadan change the timings, and PSX announces each change in a notice.
What is the PSX post-close session?
A 15-minute session after the close (3:35 to 3:50 pm, or 4:35 to 4:50 pm on Friday) in which orders execute only at the official closing price.
Education, not investment advice.
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