The global commodity market is much more intertwined than other financial markets. That’s why the commodity market time in India is longer than in other financial markets.
The long hours help commodities stay in sync with reference prices from around the world. But what are the actual timings of the commodity market? Read on to find out.
Latest Commodity Market Time in India
What we call the commodity market is a collection of marketplaces where goods and raw materials are traded. If the marketplaces are regulated, they’re known as exchanges which include:
- Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX)
- Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX)
- National Commodity and Derivative Exchange (NCDEX)
- National Multi Commodity Exchange of India (NMCE)
A trader can buy and sell derivative contracts on these commodity exchanges to speculate and make profits or hedge and manage risk. Here’s the fun part.
The commodity market is open for the longest time out of all the financial markets in India. The market hours were set deliberately so that Indian commodities are in sync with global commodities.
Exchange-traded commodity futures and options can be bought and sold during a window of fourteen and a half hours!
- Commodity market open time: 9.00 AM
- Commodity market close time: 11.30 PM
In fact, online commodity trading may go on for fourteen hours & fifty-five minutes when the daylight saving period ends in the US on 06-11-2022 and will resume on 12-03-2022.
The commodity trading time in India when US daylight saving ends is from 9.00 AM to 11.55 PM. Here’s a table with the complete market hours for trading commodities after the end of US daylight savings.
| Commodity | Open | Close |
| Non-Agri | 9.00 AM | 11.55 PM |
| Cotton, CPO & Kapas | 9.00 AM | 9.00 PM |
| Other Agri | 9.00 AM | 5.00 PM |
While we’re on the topic of market hours, you should know about the significance of Muhurat trading. Muhurat is a Sanskrit word that is used to denote an auspicious time to carry out important actions.
Thus, Muhurat trading is a tradition in India that traders & investors follow because it is known to bring good luck. It generally falls on Diwali, which will occur on 24-10-2022.
During Muhurat trading day, the commodity market is open for a short period of time. Watch this space to find out when the commodity market will be open during Muhurat trading!
By the way, you can trade without brokerage charges on Muhurat Trading Day using Dhan. Not on Dhan? Open Free Demat Account!
All Commodity Market Holidays in 2023
The commodity market will be closed entirely for 15 days in 2023. You won’t be able to trade nor will settlement or delivery of stocks happen during these 15 days.
Furthermore, there are 19 clearing holidays in the commodity market. You can trade during these 19 days but settlement and delivery will not take place until the next business day.
| Date | Holiday | Trading Holiday | Settlement Holiday |
| 01-01-2023 | New Year’s Day | 🗸 | 🗴 |
| 26-01-2023 | Republic Day | 🗸 | 🗸 |
| 18-02-2023 | Maha Shivaratri | 🗸 | 🗴 |
| 07-03-2023 | Holi | 🗸 | 🗸 |
| 22-03-2023 | Gudi Padwa | 🗸 | |
| 30-03-2023 | Ram Navami | 🗸 | 🗸 |
| 04-04-2023 | Mahavir Jayanti | 🗸 | 🗸 |
| 07-04-2023 | Good Friday | 🗸 | 🗸 |
| 14-04-2023 | Dr.Baba Saheb Ambedkar Jayanti | 🗸 | 🗸 |
| 22-04-2023 | Eid-ul-Fitr (Ramzan ID) | 🗸 | 🗴 |
| 01-05-2023 | Maharashtra Day | 🗸 | 🗸 |
| 05-05-2023 | Buddha Purnima | 🗴 | 🗸 |
| 28-06-2023 | Bakri Id/Eid ul-Adha | 🗸 | 🗸 |
| 29-07-2023 | Muharram | 🗸 | 🗴 |
| 15-08-2023 | Independence Day | 🗸 | 🗸 |
| 16-08-2023 | Parsi New Year | 🗴 | 🗸 |
| 19-09-2023 | Ganesh Chaturthi | 🗸 | 🗸 |
| 28-09-2023 | Eid-E-Milad | 🗴 | 🗸 |
| 02-10-2023 | Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti | 🗸 | 🗸 |
| 24-10-2023 | Dussehra | 🗸 | 🗸 |
| 12-11-2023 | Diwali-Laxmi Pujan | 🗸 | 🗴 |
| 14-11-2023 | Diwali-Balipratipada | 🗸 | 🗸 |
| 27-11-2023 | Guru Nanak Jayanti | 🗸 | 🗸 |
| 25-12-2023 | Christmas | 🗸 | 🗸 |
Fun fact: There are 5 commodity trading holidays that fall on a weekend. That’s why we’ve not added them to our list.
Why is the Commodity Market Open for So Long?
Because global economies are interconnected, the price of commodities in leading countries is known to affect domestic commodity prices.
In order to curb any mismatch, commodity exchanges turn to reference prices from other countries. In fact, most exchange-traded commodities derive their reference price from International markets.
For example, Crude Oil traded in MCX uses WTI Crude traded in NYMEX as its reference price. This doesn’t include Agri Commodities, however.
Moreover, commodities are traded globally in different time zones. Thus, the Indian commodity market is open for more than fourteen hours to keep itself aligned with global commodity markets.
While we’re on the topic, you’d also be interested in knowing that the commodities India exports have a bearing on global markets. Wheat and rice, especially, are known to influence global grain prices.
Read about the second most active financial market in India: Forex Market Hours & Holidays in India
Best Time to Trade Commodity in India
First off, the commodity market time is split into two sessions. The first one is the morning session which is from 9.00 AM to 5.00 PM. The second is the evening session which is from 5.00 PM to 11.30 PM.
During these sessions, you can trade commodity derivatives of agricultural products, base metals, bullion, and energy. There are five agricultural commodities:
- Black Pepper
- Crude Palm Oil
- Cotton
- Mentha Oil
- Rubber
There are five base metals:
- Aluminium
- Copper
- Lead
- Nickel
- Zinc
There are seven bullion products:
- Gold
- Gold Mini
- Gold Guinea
- Gold Petal
- Silver
- Silver Mini
- Silver Micro
There are two energy products:
- Natural Gas
- Crude Oil
As you may know, the commodity market is active 24*5 across the globe. Because of this, there’s an overlap not just in trading hours but also in the price movement of certain commodities globally.
In fact, research suggests that precious metals and energy futures on Indian exchanges show a strong correlation with their foreign benchmark counterparts.
There may be minor differences due to the power of USD or INR, but the prices are known to be more or less correlated. Traders may turn to these international commodities or indices for reference.
Subsequently, they may make trades based on the international referencing that occurs in these commodities. That said, there’s no “best time to trade” that’s set in stone.
The right time to trade commodities would be a combination of many factors, including leading indicators like US Fed announcements, inventory data, the value of the USD, and more. However, there may be certain few best commodity to trade in India based on the market hours themselves.
Happy Trading!
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