A Market-on-Close (MOC) order is an order to buy or sell a security at the best available price at market close. In India, closing prices are determined through a closing auction mechanism, and MOC-equivalent orders participate in this process.<\/p>\n
An MOC order executes at the day’s closing price, not during regular trading<\/a> hours. It ensures participation in the closing auction at the final price of the day.<\/p>\n This is the opposite of a Market-on-Open (MOO) order. MOC orders are useful when the closing price specifically matters for strategy or benchmark<\/a> purposes.<\/p>\n Indian exchanges (NSE<\/a> and BSE<\/a>) calculate the official closing price as the volume<\/a>-weighted average price (VWAP<\/a>) of all trades in the last 30 minutes of trading (3:00 PM to 3:30 PM). This is different from just the last traded price.<\/p>\n From 3:40 PM to 4:00 PM, NSE conducts a closing market session where participants can trade at the official VWAP closing price. This session functions like an MOC order mechanism.<\/p>\n – Mutual fund<\/a> managers need to value portfolio<\/a> holdings at the official closing price; MOC orders allow execution at that exact benchmark priceIndia’s Closing Price Mechanism<\/h2>\n
Why Use MOC Orders?<\/h2>\n
\n– Index<\/a> rebalancing often uses closing prices to add\/remove constituents
\n– Institutional investor<\/a>s executing against benchmark closing prices
\n– Portfolio managers ensuring their transaction price matches their cost of holding (NAV<\/a> calculation)<\/p>\nPractical Example<\/h2>\n