2025 Hong Kong Stock Exchange trading hours - Opening/Closing/Holiday hours and trading rules

Overview of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) is the only stock exchange in Hong Kong and is also one of the listed companies (Stock Code: 0388.HK). HKEX primarily provides trading services for financial assets such as securities. It is one of the top 10 exchanges in the world and one of the top 3 exchanges in Asia, positioned as one of the most active capital investment markets in Asia and the world. Established in 1989, HKEX has ranked first in the global IPO fundraising rankings seven times in the past 13 years.

The HKEX Group companies include the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK), the Hong Kong Futures Exchange (HKFE), Hong Kong Central Clearing Limited, the Hong Kong Securities Options Clearing House, and Hong Kong Futures Clearing Limited. In the metals market, it also encompasses the London Metal Exchange and the London Clearing House for Metals.

Each of these companies is responsible for corresponding operations such as stocks, options, futures trading, and settlement. HKEX is a joint-stock company, and its largest shareholder is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) supervises regulatory compliance.

Hong Kong Stock Market Trading Hours: Opening/Closing/Public Holiday Hours

Hong Kong Stock Market Trading Hours and Rules

| Time Zone | Time | |------|------| | Pre-Market Competitive Bidding Time | 9:00~9:30 | | Pre-market trading hours | 9:30~12:00 | | Lunch Break | 12:00~13:00 | | After-hours trading session | 13:00~16:00 | | Closing Competitive Bidding Time | Random end between 16:00~16:08 or ~16:10 |

Pre-market hours of the Hong Kong stock exchange 9:00~9:30

The pre-opening competitive bidding at HKEX is generally divided into the following four time slots:

| Time Zone | Rules | |------|------| | 9:00am – 9:15am Order Entry Time | Only competitive bid orders and competitive bid limit orders can be entered, modifications or cancellations are also possible | | 9:15am – 9:20am Pre-Matching Time | Accepting competitive bidding orders and competitive bid limit orders (prices must be within the range of the highest buy price and lowest sell price recorded at 9:15am), submitted orders cannot be canceled or modified | | 9:20am – 9:22am Matching Time Slot | Order entry, modification, and cancellation are not allowed; during this time, random matching and order combinations will take place | | Matching Complete – 9:30pm Downtime | All orders and exchange activities will be paused until the start of the morning trading session |

Random closing between 16:00~16:08 or 16:10 in the Hong Kong stock market after hours

The competitive bidding mechanism during after-hours trading is divided into four main time slots, in the opposite order to the pre-opening time slot:

| Time | Rules | |------|------| | 16:00~16:01 Reference Price Calculation and Announcement Period | HKEX calculates and announces the reference price | | 16:01~16:06 Order Input Time | Investors can input, cancel, and change orders | | 16:06~16:08 Cancellation Unavailable Time | Investors can only input orders, cancellation or modification is not allowed | | 16:08~16:10 Random End Time | Investors can continue to input orders, but cancellation or modification is not possible; random end within these 2 minutes |

Hong Kong Stock Market Holidays in 2025

In addition to weekends (Saturday and Sunday), HKEX will be closed on certain holidays. Below are the scheduled holidays for 2025. It is important for traders to pay attention to market trends as the trading period approaches and to adjust their trading plans accordingly.

| Non-Trading Days | Holidays | |------------|----------| | 2025/01/01 | New Year's Day | | 2025/01/28 | Lunar New Year's Eve Afternoon Market Closure | | 2025/01/29 | Lunar New Year Day 1 | | 2025/01/30 | Second day of Lunar New Year | | 2025/01/31 | Third Day of Lunar New Year | | 2025/04/04 | Qingming Festival | | 2025/04/18 | Good Friday | | 2025/04/19 | Holy Saturday | | 2025/04/21 | Easter Monday | | 2025/05/01 | May Day | | 2025/05/05 | Buddha's Birthday | | 2025/07/01 | Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day | | 2025/10/01 | National Day | | 2025/10/07 | The day after the Mid-Autumn Festival | | 2025/10/29 | Double Ninth Festival | | 2025/12/24 | Christmas Eve Afternoon Closure | | 2025/12/25 | Christmas | | 2025/12/26 | Boxing Day | | 2025/12/31 | New Year's Eve afternoon market closure |

Important Points in Hong Kong Stock Exchange

1. Choosing the right exchange trading strategy

What trading strategies are effective in the different trading time zones of the Hong Kong stock market?

First and foremost, it is important to note that the Hong Kong stock market adopts the T+0 trading system (same-day trading is possible), but the actual settlement date is T+3 (three business days later).

In the trading hours of the morning and afternoon sessions, long-term investment strategies for blue-chip stocks based on fundamental analysis and short-term trading strategies based on technical analysis are possible.

In addition, short selling is also possible in the Hong Kong market. If you anticipate a future price decline for a specific stock, you can borrow shares from a brokerage, sell them in the market, and then buy them back after the price has dropped to return them to the brokerage, thus earning the difference as profit.

2. Utilization of Effective Trading Strategies

In addition to direct stock purchases, the Hong Kong stock market allows trading through investment trusts, ETFs, options, futures, and CFDs (Contracts for Difference). In particular, CFD trading offers advantages such as trading with a small amount of capital (leverage effect) and the simplification of short selling compared to traditional exchange trading.

CFD trading is a type of margin trading that offers leverage of 1 to 200 times. By depositing a certain amount of margin, you can trade amounts several dozen to several hundred times your principal, making it possible to execute large trades with a small amount of capital.

Professional investors take advantage of the split structure of trading hours in the Hong Kong market, characterized by the pre-market and post-market sessions, to implement arbitrage strategies that utilize price differences between different markets, as well as develop time-based strategies through the analysis of price movement patterns in the pre-market and post-market sessions. By understanding the price formation mechanisms during the pre-opening competitive bidding period and the post-closing competitive bidding period, they can identify more sophisticated trading opportunities.