When you place a stock order on Thndr, the price you actually pay (or receive) depends on your order type, market conditions at that moment, and the matching rules of the Egyptian Exchange.
Market orders
A market order is a request to buy or sell immediately at whatever price is currently available.
Buy market orders fill at the lowest available ask (sell) prices in the order book.
Sell market orders fill at the highest available bid (buy) prices in the order book.
The execution price is not guaranteed. It depends entirely on what's available at the exact moment your order reaches the exchange. If there aren't enough shares at one price level, your order fills across multiple levels — this is called price slippage.
Example: You place a market buy for 1,000 shares. Only 600 are available at EGP 50. Your order fills 600 at EGP 50, then fills the remaining 400 at EGP 50.50. Your average execution price is EGP 50.20.
Market orders guarantee speed and execution, but not price. Use them when you need to enter or exit a position quickly.
Limit orders
A limit order lets you set the maximum price you're willing to pay (buy) or minimum price you're willing to receive (sell).
Buy limit orders execute at your specified price or lower. You'll never pay more than your limit.
Sell limit orders execute at your specified price or higher. You'll never receive less than your limit.
If no matching price exists, your order stays open (Pending) until the market reaches your limit or you cancel it.
Price improvement is possible: if better prices exist on the opposite side of the order book, your order may execute at a better price than your limit.
Example: You place a buy limit at EGP 50. The current ask is EGP 51. Your order waits. When the price drops to EGP 49.50, your order fills at EGP 49.50 — better than your limit.
Limit orders give you price control but no guarantee of execution.
From order placed to order filled
Thndr has a built-in queuing system that manages how and when your orders are routed to the exchange. Once an order reaches the exchange, EGX applies its own three-tier priority rules to determine execution order.
Before the exchange: Thndr queue priority
1. Queue priority for market orders (Thndr) Orders placed outside market hours don't all enter the exchange queue equally. Thndr manages this queue so you can place orders any time, regardless of market hours — but how quickly they execute at open depends on order type.
Limit orders and cancellations submitted before market open are queued at the Adjustment Session (8:30 AM) and get first priority
Market orders placed after 10:00 AM — once the session is live, new orders placed in real time get priority and move to the front of the queue
Market orders placed outside market hours take lower priority at open. Because EGX imposes a sending rate limit on how many orders can be forwarded to the exchange at once, queued market orders from outside the session may take a few minutes to execute as the queue clears
Note: The sending rate limit is an exchange-level constraint that applies to all brokers — not a Thndr delay. Thndr manages the queue on your behalf so you can place orders whenever you want.
Tip: If execution priority at open matters to you, place a limit order before market hours or wait to place a market order after 10:00 AM. Both take higher priority than market orders placed outside the session.
Once your order reaches the exchange: EGX priority rules
2. Price priority (EGX) The most competitive price always executes first.
For buy orders: highest bid price executes first.
For sell orders: lowest ask price executes first.
3. Time priority (FIFO) (EGX) When multiple orders sit at the same price level, the order that arrived first executes first — First In, First Out.
Important: Any change to your order's price or quantity resets your time priority. You move to the back of the queue. So if you're waiting at EGP 50 and adjust your limit to EGP 50.50, you lose your place in line.
4. Broker priority (EGX) Orders from different brokerage firms take priority over orders from the same broker at the same price. This encourages fair competition between market participants.
Opening and closing auctions
The Egyptian Exchange has structured auction periods at the start and end of each trading day.
Opening price (TOP)
Before regular trading, the exchange runs a structured pre-open sequence in three phases:
Pre-open Auction (9:30–~9:50 AM) — Orders can be submitted, modified, and cancelled. The system continuously calculates the Theoretical Opening Price (TOP) for each stock as orders come in. The TOP updates in real time as orders are added, modified, or cancelled — but no trades execute yet.
Pre-open Adjustment (~9:50–10:00 AM) — The auction closes randomly between 9:50 and 10:00 AM. Once closed, no new orders can be submitted and existing orders cannot be modified or cancelled. This is a locked freeze window.
Trading Session opens (10:00 AM) — Actual execution begins. Queued orders execute at the TOP, which becomes the official opening price.
The TOP is the price that maximises executable volume across all queued orders. If no TOP can be determined, the opening price defaults to the first executed trade of the session.
Closing price (TCP)
Near session end, a pre-close auction runs from 2:15–2:25 PM. The exchange calculates the Theoretical Closing Price (TCP) using the same method. All closing auction orders execute at this single price.
Auction prices can differ significantly from intraday prices because they reflect aggregate supply and demand at that moment, not individual trades.
Intraday reference price (MVWAP)
During the session, the reference price is the Moving Volume Weighted Average Price (MVWAP) — a weighted average of all executed transactions. This is not the same as the last traded price. EGX uses MVWAP for circuit breaker calculations.
Daily price limits and the reference price
Each day, the reference price is the previous day's closing price. EGX enforces daily limits to prevent extreme swings:
Main Market: prices can move ±20% from the reference price.
SME Market: prices can move ±10% from the reference price.
If a stock tries to trade outside these limits, the order is rejected.
FAQs
Why did my order fill at different prices?
If your order was large, it may have exhausted the available quantity at one price level and continued filling at the next. This is price slippage — a normal part of larger orders in any market. Limit orders protect you by stopping if the price moves past your limit.
Can I cancel my order after it's filled?
No. Once your order executes, it's complete. You can place a new order in the opposite direction to exit your position.
What's the difference between the last traded price and the closing price?
The last traded price is the price of the most recent transaction. The closing price (MVWAP or TCP) is a weighted average of all trades during the session. They often differ, especially if the last trade was an outlier.
Why might my limit order not fill even though the price reached my limit?
Your order may have lost its time priority if you modified it. Other orders at the same price level that arrived earlier will execute first. Or, the order book simply didn't have enough matching volume at that exact moment.
How do opening and closing auctions affect my strategy?
Many traders use auctions for higher liquidity at market open and close. However, auction prices are determined by aggregate volume, not individual trades — they can surprise you. Understand the auction mechanics before relying on them.
Does placing a market order before the market opens guarantee I get in first?
No. Market orders placed before 10:00 AM are queued at a lower priority than limit orders and cancellations already waiting in queue. If getting in early matters, a limit order placed the night before will take queue priority over a market order placed moments before open.