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Market Intelligence › Basic Terminologies
When an After Market Order executes, and what happens to it at the open
Published by The Retail Trader · JUL 27, 2026 · Order Flow
An AMO lets you place an order at night, but it does not execute at night. It goes into the queue when the market opens the next morning, and that is exactly where people get caught.
Your broker sends the AMO to the exchange around the pre-open or the opening of the next trading day. Until then it exists only in the broker's system.
This means any news that arrives overnight hits your order in full, because it was placed on the thinking behind the old price.
These things often go wrong with AMOs:
• Market orders slip the most at the open, so putting a market order in an AMO can be expensive.
• Every broker has a different AMO window and different allowed segments.
• Orders outside the price band of the pre-open session get rejected.
• After overnight news, cancelling the AMO is your responsibility. It will not be removed on its own.
The real benefit of an AMO is removing the morning rush. If the order was placed calmly at night with a limit price, you get that benefit. If it is a market order, you have only moved the rush to the morning.
This article is for educational purposes only. It is not a buy or sell recommendation, not a claim of guaranteed returns, and not advice. Rules, rates and mechanics change from time to time at the exchanges, SEBI and the RBI, so verify every number yourself with your broker or an official source.