Market AccessData
Saudi Exchange expands market-order execution to five price ticks from October 4
Main Market and Nomu orders may execute across multiple price levels within defined range, with unexecuted quantities converting to limit orders.
Saudi Exchange will implement an updated market-order execution mechanism on the Main Market and Nomu – Parallel Market from October 4, 2026. Under the new system, a market order may execute against available quantities across up to five price ticks from the best available price when the order enters the market. Any unexecuted quantity will convert into a limit order at the price of the last execution.
Execution range and conversion mechanism#
The updated mechanism allows a market order to access liquidity beyond the single best available price level, executing across multiple price levels within a maximum range of five price ticks. When the five-tick limit is reached, or where quantities within that span are exhausted, the unfilled balance converts automatically to a limit order priced at the final traded level. An incoming market order may trade at several price points, determined by what resting volume sits in the order book at submission. Where execution reaches the outer boundary of five ticks from the opening best price, the system halts further price-level traversal and ceases drawing on additional liquidity.
Change from existing process#
Under the existing mechanism, a market order executes against the quantity available at the best available price. If that quantity is insufficient to execute the entire order, the unexecuted portion becomes a limit order priced at the level where the filled portion traded. From October 4, the system permits the market order to draw on quantities at successive price levels, up to the five-tick maximum measured from the opening best price. Execution will no longer necessarily stop once the available volume at the best price has been exhausted.
Market scope and effective date#
The revision applies to securities on Saudi Exchange's Main Market and Nomu – Parallel Market. Trading rules for the derivatives market are unchanged. The revision permits a larger portion of a market order to fill at entry by drawing on liquidity distributed across several price levels rather than only the top of the book. The new mechanism takes effect on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
Order-book access and liquidity#
Where quantities within the five-tick span are depleted before the order fills completely, the balance stops trading as a market order and is entered as a limit order at the final traded price. The system grants broader initial access to resting orders while capping how many price levels a single market order may traverse. Saudi Exchange's trading guidance defines market orders as orders executed according to prevailing market prices.
Sources1 source across 1 domain
- economymiddleeast.comEconomy Middle EastSaudi Exchange announcement of updated market-order execution mechanism effective October 4, 2026, including five-tick range, conversion to limit orders, and market scope
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