The substance of Exchange trading pertains exclusively to cash and forward transactions in securities traded on SIX Swiss Exchange.

These Exchange transactions are settled on a "trade-date plus three" (T+3) basis; in other words, customary practice requires the delivery versus payment of the securities involved in an Exchange transaction to take place on the third banking day following the date of execution.

A trading day of SIX Swiss Exchange is subdivided into five periods: the pre-opening, opening, continuous trading, close of trading and after-hour trading (post-trading).

The pre-opening lasts from 06.00 to 09.15 CET (for interest rate warrants, until 09.30). During this period, orders may be entered into or deleted from the electronic order book, whereas no transactions take place. To apprise traders as to how the opening is shaping up, a theoretical opening price is continually calculated and displayed.

The opening price at the start of trading (or when dealings recommence following a trading halt) is determined according to the principle of the "largest, best execution". In other words, the price reflects an execution of the highest-volume match.

Immediately after the opening, continuous trading commences. New orders are successively executed against existing orders on the book or, in the Structured Products segment of the market, against quotes, whereby here too the Matching Rules are authoritative. All orders or quotes remain on the book until they are either executed or cancelled.

During this period, trading in Quote Driven Market products is suspended. Close of trading occurs at different times for different products (between 5 p.m. and 5.15 p.m.). Orders can be entered from 6 a.m. on the following exchange day.

After-hour trading (post-trading) in the Structured Products market segment runs from 17.00 or, as the case may be, 17.15 until 22.00. During that time frame, market makers and liquidity providers may continue to post their quotes. However, order cancellation is possible.

Note: Detailed information on the exchange periods can be found in Directive 3: Trading.

The Structured Products trading on SIX Swiss Exchange is divided into five periods:

— Pre-opening
— Opening
— Continuous trading
— Close of trading
— after hours dealing

Click on the links for details on the trading procedure and the individual periods.

The following trading hours apply to equity securities, and therefore to ETFs and investment funds, on the SIX Swiss Exchange: 

During the pre-opening, orders and quotes may be entered or deleted in the electronic order books, albeit without an execution (matching) taking place.

To keep traders apprised of the current status of the book, a theoretical opening price (in keeping with the Matching Rules) is calculated and published. Each newly received order/quotes and each cancellation results in a recalculation of the theoretical opening price and, based on that calculation, the order book can switch into one of the following modes:

— Non-opening
— Stop trading
— Opening
— Delayed opening 

If for one or more market orders there exists no commensurate order(s) on the other side of the book (market-order overhang), the conditions for a non-opening are present because, in a normal opening, all market orders must be executed. The order book nevertheless remains open and, with each new order that is entered, the pre-opening procedure is repeated until an opening is possible.

If there are appropriate opposite-side orders on the book for all market orders, and if there is no stop trading of an excessive divergence from the reference price, the order book can be opened for trading.
(see Point 2.19 GC, Directive 3: Trading)

If at the opening orders could be executed but there is no quote in the order book, the opening is delayed by 30 seconds. If quotes are entered during the delayed opening, the order book opens immediately. The time frames are laid down in the SIX Swiss Exchange Trading Guide.

During the opening, no new orders and quotes can be entered into the order books. The opening procedure serves to establish the official opening price (in accordance with the Matching Rules), which corresponds to the last theoretical opening price calculated during the pre-opening. 
This procedure is oriented towards arriving at a price that enables an execution of the highest-volume match. This is referred to as the principle of the "largest, best execution". All of the related trades are executed at the same price, in other words the "opening price". 
(see Directive 3: Trading)

After the opening, continuous trading gets underway. In this phase, matching takes place according to different rules than those applied during the opening. In continuous trading, an attempt is made to execute each newly received order or quote and thus conclude a transaction (or, as the case may be, several transactions)) whereby the parties involved are mostly given the opportunity to validate their prices and quotes by means of a short trading interruption.
Non-executed orders and quotes or any remaining quantity resulting after a trade has been concluded remain in the order book.
Matching cases at the end of continuous trading after taking into account the closing auction. The Exchange System (i.e. in particular the order books) remains open for order entry. Traders may already start to place orders again for the next trading day. 
(see Directive 3: Trading)

Taking into account the closing auction procedure, matching cases at the end of continuous trading, and the pre-opening for the following trading day commences with the initial calculation of the theoretical opening price. 
(see Directive 3: Trading)

The following trading times are currently in effect: 

Closing auctions take place only in connection with equity securities (incl. investment funds) (see chart):