Given the number of questions we’re fielding from clients about “24-hour” trading – which really is 23 hours long – it makes sense that the Nasdaq has populated its “Global Trading Hours” Hub with 18 FAQs on global trading hours and 13 FAQs on corporate actions. In addition, the SEC just announced it will host a roundtable about preparing for 24-hour trading on September 17th – anyone can submit comments to the SEC in connection with the roundtable.
A few things to note about the 18 FAQs:
1. Regular Market Hours Remain the Price Benchmark –The traditional 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET trading session, including the Opening and Closing Crosses, will continue to establish the primary market prices used for transparency and price discovery.
2. Launch Target is December 6, 2026 –The expanded trading schedule is expected to begin Sunday, December 6, 2026, provided the SEC approves the necessary rule changes and the Securities Information Processor (SIP) is ready.
3. Trading Will Run Almost Continuously During the Week –Trading would begin at 9:00 p.m. ET Sunday and continue until 8:00 p.m. ET Friday, with a daily one-hour pause from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET for system processing and transition to the next trading day.
4. Current Trading Sessions Stay Largely Unchanged – Nasdaq’s existing trading hours from 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET will continue to operate as they do today, with no material changes what exists today in terms of functionality.
5. Other Nasdaq Exchanges Will Keep Existing Hours – The changes only apply to the Nasdaq Stock Market. Nasdaq Texas (NTX), PSX and Nasdaq options exchanges will continue operating on their current schedules.
6. Trade Dates Will Depend on Time of Execution – Trades executed between 9:00 p.m. and midnight will receive the next calendar day’s trade date, while trades that take place from midnight to 8:00 p.m. will carry the current day’s trade date. Settlement procedures otherwise remain unchanged.
7. Trading Will Continue Around Many U.S. Holidays – If a U.S. market holiday falls on a Monday through a Thursday, overnight trading will still begin at 9:00 p.m. ET the evening of that holiday, providing additional access despite the daytime market closure.
8. Static Price Bands Will Protect Against Extreme Price Moves – Subject to SEC approval, exchanges will reject orders that exceed static price bands calculated by the listing market and distributed through the SIP to reduce the risk of erroneous trades.
9. Price Bands Will Be Based on Closing Prices – The overnight trading bands will be calculated using the greater or lesser of the adjusted Official Closing Price and the last round-lot sale before 7:45 p.m. ET, generally allowing trading within ±20% of those reference prices (subject to minimum dollar thresholds).
10. Major Corporate Actions Will Trigger Overnight Trading Halts – Certain significant events – such as stock splits, large dividends, mergers, de-SPAC transactions, spin-offs, symbol or CUSIP changes and security type changes – will generally remain halted until 8:00 a.m. ET on the effective date. Nasdaq will identify these with the Trade Halt Code “M1.” Also see these 13 FAQs on corporate actions for more gloss (for example, the one-hour pause between 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM may be insufficient for the processing of some of these corporate actions).
Authored by
Broc Romanek