Short answer: Borsa Istanbul trading hours for shares on a full day run from 09:40 to 18:10 Istanbul time (UTC+3), with no lunch break. An opening auction starts at 09:40, continuous trading runs from 10:00 to 18:00, and a closing auction and trades at the closing price run until 18:10. On half days before holidays the equity session ends at 12:40. As of 5 November 2026, no equity market holiday or half day remains in 2026: 31 December is a normal trading day and 1 January 2027 is New Year's Day. Borsa Istanbul has not yet published its 2027 holiday calendar.
Borsa Istanbul runs several markets with different hours: shares and exchange-traded funds, the derivatives market VİOP, the Debt Securities Market and the Precious Metals Market. Times in this guide are Istanbul time, which stays at UTC+3 all year, and come from Borsa Istanbul's procedures, trading hours pages and holiday tables as of November 2026.
For investors abroad, the useful details are the conversion to London and New York time, the half days before public holidays and the way holidays move settlement dates. Account and tax questions are covered in how to buy Turkish stocks.
Borsa Istanbul trading hours for the equity market
On a full trading day the equity market accepts orders from 09:40 and closes at 18:10, with continuous trading from 10:00 to 18:00.
| Phase | Istanbul time | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Opening auction, order collection | 09:40 to 09:55 | Orders are entered; nothing trades |
| Opening price determination | From 09:55 | One opening price is set and opening trades execute at it |
| Continuous trading | 10:00 to 18:00 | Orders match immediately by price and time priority |
| Closing auction, price band published | 18:00 to 18:01 | The allowed price range is shown |
| Closing auction, order collection | 18:01 to 18:05 | Orders are collected for the close |
| Closing price determination | From 18:05 | The closing price is set |
| Trades at the closing price | 18:08 to 18:10 | Orders execute only at the closing price |
Order collection ends at a random moment within 30 seconds after the stated time. Exchange-traded funds collect opening orders until 09:56, warrants and certificates skip the auctions and start at 10:00:10, and primary market transactions, such as public offerings by book building, run from 10:30 to 13:00. In technical or other extraordinary situations, the General Manager or an authorized deputy decides whether a session starts or is halted.
Borsa Istanbul hours in UTC, London and New York time
Istanbul is three hours ahead of UTC all year, so its gap to London and New York changes when those cities switch between winter and summer time.
| Event | Istanbul | UTC and London winter (GMT) | London summer (BST) | New York winter (EST) | New York summer (EDT) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orders open | 09:40 | 06:40 | 07:40 | 01:40 | 02:40 |
| Continuous trading | 10:00 to 18:00 | 07:00 to 15:00 | 08:00 to 16:00 | 02:00 to 10:00 | 03:00 to 11:00 |
| Session ends | 18:10 | 15:10 | 16:10 | 10:10 | 11:10 |
| Half-day close | 12:40 | 09:40 | 10:40 | 04:40 | 05:40 |
London moved to GMT on 25 October 2026 and New York to EST on 1 November 2026, so Istanbul is now three hours ahead of London and eight ahead of New York. In 2027 New York moves to summer time on 14 March and London on 28 March, which again shifts the gaps for two weeks.
How the opening and closing auctions work
The opening and closing sessions are single-price auctions: orders are collected without trading, and one price is set that maximizes the traded quantity.
- Price rule: the price with the largest executable quantity wins; ties go to the smallest unmatched quantity, then to the side with more pressure, then to the price closest to the reference price.
- Transparency: order book depth is hidden during collection, but the indicative price and quantity are published.
- Base price: the closing price becomes the next day's base price for daily price limits.
- Closing band: closing-auction orders must lie within ±3% of the last trade price and within the day's limits.
- After the close: from 18:08 to 18:10, orders can be entered only at the closing price and only for shares that traded that day.
There is no lunch break for continuously traded shares. Shares on the Watchlist Market or under single-price trading instead have five auctions a day, with collection at 09:40 to 09:55, 10:00 to 12:55, 13:00 to 13:55, 14:00 to 17:55 and 18:01 to 18:05. Strategy tests that use closing prices depend on these rules, as in this BIST strategy backtesting platform.
Half days and settlement around holidays
On half days, the eves of religious holidays and 28 October, the equity session runs from 09:40 to 12:40 and no settlement takes place.
| Phase | Istanbul time |
|---|---|
| Opening auction, order collection | 09:40 to 09:55 |
| Continuous trading | 10:00 to 12:30 |
| Closing auction | 12:30 to 12:37 |
| Trades at the closing price | 12:38 to 12:40 |
Borsa Istanbul's general holiday list marks half days as open until 13:00, when the public holiday starts, but each market closes earlier: shares at 12:40, VİOP at 12:40 and the Debt Securities Market at 11:30. Settlement moves too. According to the 2026 equity holiday table, trades of Monday 26 October 2026 settled on Friday 30 October, and trades of 27 and 28 October settled together on Monday 2 November. Settlement dates also decide dividend entitlement; see Turkey's dividend withholding tax.
Hypothetical example (28 October 2026, the last half day of the year): a buy order sent from London at 09:00 GMT was 12:00 in Istanbul, inside the half-day continuous session. It settled on Monday 2 November 2026: there is no settlement on the half day, Thursday 29 October was a holiday and Friday 30 October was only the first business day after the half day. An order sent at 09:45 GMT, 12:45 in Istanbul, missed the session; the next one was on Friday 30 October.
Borsa Istanbul holidays 2026
Borsa Istanbul's 2026 holiday tables, announced on 4 December 2025, close the equity market on the dates below in addition to weekends.
| Date | Holiday | Equity market |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 1 January | New Year's Day | Closed |
| Thu 19 March | Eve of Ramadan Feast | Half day |
| Fri 20 to Sun 22 March | Ramadan Feast (Ramazan Bayramı) | Closed |
| Thu 23 April | National Sovereignty and Children's Day | Closed |
| Fri 1 May | Labour and Solidarity Day | Closed |
| Tue 19 May | Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day | Closed |
| Tue 26 May | Eve of Sacrifice Feast | Half day |
| Wed 27 to Sat 30 May | Sacrifice Feast (Kurban Bayramı) | Closed |
| Wed 15 July | Democracy and National Unity Day | Closed |
| Sun 30 August | Victory Day | Falls on a Sunday |
| Wed 28 October | Eve of Republic Day | Half day |
| Thu 29 October | Republic Day | Closed |
Thursday 31 December 2026 is not listed as a half day, but VİOP holds no evening session on the last trading day of the year. The Debt Securities Market trades on some US and European holidays but skips dollar or euro settlement on them; on 26 November 2026, for example, there is no dollar settlement.
Borsa Istanbul holiday calendar 2027: what is known
Borsa Istanbul had not published its 2027 holiday calendar on 5 November 2026, so only the fixed public holidays set by law are known.
Law No. 2429 on National Holidays and General Holidays fixes the dates below; the weekdays are calculated for 2027. All of them are subject to Borsa Istanbul's own announcement; the 2026 tables were announced on 4 December 2025.
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| Friday 1 January 2027 | New Year's Day |
| Friday 23 April 2027 | National Sovereignty and Children's Day |
| Saturday 1 May 2027 | Labour and Solidarity Day |
| Wednesday 19 May 2027 | Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day |
| Thursday 15 July 2027 | Democracy and National Unity Day |
| Monday 30 August 2027 | Victory Day |
| Thursday 28 October 2027, from 13:00 | Republic Day begins |
| Friday 29 October 2027 | Republic Day |
The same law sets the Ramadan Feast at three and a half days and the Sacrifice Feast at four and a half days, each starting at 13:00 on the eve. Their dates follow the lunar calendar and move earlier each year, so they are not listed here; check Borsa Istanbul's official holidays page once the 2027 tables appear.
VİOP, debt securities and precious metals market hours
Derivatives, bonds and precious metals trade on different schedules from shares, and some run into the evening.
| Market | Full day | Half day |
|---|---|---|
| VİOP derivatives | Opening session 09:20 to 09:25; normal session 09:30 to 18:10; evening session 19:00 to 23:00 for index futures, metal futures and foreign-currency-priced precious metal futures | 09:30 to 12:40, no evening session |
| Debt Securities Market, outright trades | 09:30 to 14:00 for same-day value; 09:30 to 17:30 for forward value | 09:30 to 11:30 |
| International Bonds Market | 09:30 to 17:30, forward value only | 09:30 to 11:30 |
| Precious Metals Market | 16:10 to 23:45, then 08:00 to 16:00 counted as the next trading day | Until 13:00 on the 2026 half days |
Bond trading details are in Turkish government bonds and eurobonds, and data feeds for these sessions in Borsa Istanbul API and market data.
Frequently asked questions
What time does Borsa Istanbul open in London time?
Orders open at 06:40 GMT in winter and 07:40 BST in summer, and continuous trading runs from 07:00 to 15:00 GMT or 08:00 to 16:00 BST.
Does Borsa Istanbul have a lunch break?
No, not for continuously traded shares. Shares under single-price trading have a separate midday auction with order collection from 13:00 to 13:55.
Is Borsa Istanbul open on 31 December 2026 and 1 January 2027?
31 December 2026 is not in the 2026 holiday table, so shares trade a normal full day, and VİOP holds no evening session. 1 January 2027 is New Year's Day under Law No. 2429; the 2027 tables, not yet published, will confirm trading and settlement.
When will Borsa Istanbul publish the 2027 holiday calendar?
It had not been published by 5 November 2026. The 2026 tables were announced on 4 December 2025, and Borsa Istanbul keeps its yearly tables on its official holidays page.
Can I trade on Borsa Istanbul after 18:10?
Not in shares. VİOP has an evening session from 19:00 to 23:00 for selected futures, and the Precious Metals Market trades from 16:10 to 23:45.
Sources
- Borsa Istanbul: Equity Market Procedure, revision 54 of 21.09.2026, session schedules (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Borsa Istanbul: Equity market trading hours (opens in a new tab)
- Borsa Istanbul: Official holidays (opens in a new tab)
- Borsa Istanbul: Equity market 2026 holiday table with settlement dates (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Borsa Istanbul: Announcement 41625 of 04.12.2025 on 2026 holiday trading and settlement (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Borsa Istanbul: Debt Securities, Money and Swap Markets 2026 holiday table (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Borsa Istanbul: Derivatives Market (VİOP) 2026 holiday table (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Borsa Istanbul: Precious Metals Market 2026 holiday table (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Borsa Istanbul: Debt Securities Market trading hours (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Borsa Istanbul: VİOP trading hours (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Borsa Istanbul: Precious Metals and Precious Stones Market trading hours (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Law No. 2429 on National Holidays and General Holidays (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
This guide is general information, not investment, legal or tax advice. Amounts, rates and rules in Turkey change often: check the date given for each figure and the official source before you rely on it, and ask a licensed adviser about your own situation. Sources, checks and corrections: see the editorial policy.