FIX Order Sessions and Market Data Requirements

Summary

The document asks whether a trading application must establish a FIX quote session and subscribe to market data before sending a new order over an order session. The answers distinguish protocol rules from a particular broker’s workflow: FIX itself does not require market-data subscriptions before order entry, while some counterparties may impose that condition.

The discussion also raises latency and application architecture as practical considerations. A separate quote session may add processing time, and a system can sometimes receive quotes through another application while keeping order flow separate. However, the responses conflict on whether an active order session alone is enough, and one answer gives no specific broker or venue details. The operational takeaway is to confirm the requirements of the intended counterparty and trading setup; the document does not establish a universal rule or provide measured latency evidence.

Key ideas

• The FIX protocol itself does not generally require a market-data subscription before sending an order.
• Individual brokers may require a quote session as part of their trading workflow.
• Quote and order flows can be handled by separate applications, depending on the setup.
• Counterparty-specific requirements should be checked because the responses do not give a universal answer.

Tags

# Initiating new orders with active "order-session" only?


# Initiating new orders with active "order-session" only?












Is it a must to establish "quote-session" & subscribing to quotes/market data before initiating a "New Order-single(Market-GTC)"? I actually can't see any use of quote-session for trading activities & my FIX-bridge is opening "single-new orders" using "order-session" only.

The reason i want to avoid quote-session: 1.It can add up to over-all processing time/latency 2.I can logon to quote-session & use the quote-flow from a different application. Any thoughts on these?

## Answer by rimas (score 1)

https://quant.stackexchange.com/a/25770

Actually, it is depends where you want to trade and it is part of trading workflow of concrete counterparty. FIX protocol definition itself does not force you to subscribe on anything.

Some brokerages forced you to subscribe on market data streams prior placing any trades. Last one we discovered - FXDD.

## Answer by Chris Andy (score 0)

https://quant.stackexchange.com/a/25435

No. It is not a requirement to initiate new orders with active "order-session" only. When trading FX you want to try and minimize over-all processing time/latency whenever possible. This will increase your profits and consistency.

Yes. It is always possible to log in to the quote-session and use the quote-flow from another application to maintain flexibility.

Shown in full with attribution under the source's licence. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (Stack Exchange)

This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.