A.S.E trading hours are set between 10:30 a.m and 4:30 p.m (8:30-14:30 GMT) with a half hour pre-opening period and a fifteen minutes post closing period.A.S.E. members, namely brokerage firms which have obtained an approval from the Board of Directors of the A.S.E, are allowed to trade in the exchange.
All transactions are in cash, and they are performed on the exchange.
Shares Trading:
Trades are regulated by the ASE and conducted electronically through the Integrated Automated Exchange Trade System (OASIS).
Orders are entered into the system by stock exchange representatives, who are supplied with code numbers for that purpose.
Orders are entered either from the floor of the exchange or from the offices of the members, by means of remote broking operations. Each member-brokerage firm is allowed to have up to six terminal stations, the use of which is restricted to the trading hours of the stock exchange.
All transactions introduced into the system before 11.00 a.m can participate in the formation of the opening price. At the pre-opening period, the system accepts limit and market orders.
Limit orders determine the day's opening price, while market orders get time priority for execution soon after the opening of the market.
If no limit orders exist, the opening price will be the same as the previous closing price. The criterion used for the determination of the opening price is the maximization of transactions volume.
When two prices produce the same maximum volume, the price closest to the previous closing price is selected.
If their differential from the previous close coincides, the system will select the highest price of the two.
Closing prices are formulated as the mean average of the execution prices of the transactions of the last ten minutes of the day.
Trade Execution:
At the main trading session orders are matched by price (the buy order at the highest price is matched with the sell order at the lowest price) and time.
The computerized system is capable of handling 300,000 orders per hour.
Members can change or reverse their orders during the main trading session if they feel that their orders cannot be executed under the given price.
Trade Confirmation:
All trades are continuously confirmed by print-outs, stating the exact order, the price at which the transaction was effected, the precise time of the trade, the transaction volume and the code number of the counterparty.
Once an order is executed the transaction is confirmed between the participating parties and is copied from the "scratch pad" to the transactions list.
This list displays the time at which the transaction was executed as well as the code numbers of both the customer and the participating broker, thus ensuring full transparency of the market.
Boards:
In every particular market there are boards where stock trading depends on:
- Whether the trading volume of each share consists of round lot units or not.
- The trading methods defined by the Athens Stock Exchange Board of Directors.
- The type of initiated orders.
The boards that are currently in use via the integrated automated exchange trade system (ΟΑSIS) are the following:
- Main Board
- Odd-Lot Board
- Agreed Price Board
