The New York trading day as we know it—the familiar 9:30 AM opening bell, the 4 PM close—may soon become a relic of financial history. On Monday, Nasdaq Inc. filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking approval to extend trading hours to 23 hours per day, five days a week.
If approved, this would be the most significant change to U.S. equity market structure since electronic trading revolutionized Wall Street in the 1990s.
What Nasdaq Is Proposing
Under the proposal, Nasdaq would introduce a two-part trading day. The day session would run from 4 AM to 8 PM Eastern Time—already a significant extension from current hours. After a one-hour pause, a night session would begin at 9 PM and continue through 4 AM the following morning.
The trading week would officially open at 9 PM ET on Sunday and close at 8 PM ET on Friday. That's 23 hours of trading per day, with just a single hour break for system maintenance.
Why This Is Happening Now
The U.S. stock market represents almost two-thirds of the market value of listed companies globally. Total foreign holdings of U.S. equities reached $17 trillion last year. Yet investors in Tokyo, London, and Sydney have been forced to trade during their middle-of-the-night hours to access American markets.
Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies trade 24/7, reshaping expectations among a generation of investors who don't understand why stocks have business hours. As Nasdaq noted in its filing, investors "are increasingly utilizing trading platforms that provide access to markets for digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, tokenized assets, and tokenized securities, on a 24/7 basis."
The Race Is On
Nasdaq isn't alone in pursuing extended hours. The New York Stock Exchange has already received initial SEC approval for 22-hour weekday trading. Cboe Global Markets announced plans for 24-hour, five-day-a-week equities trading, pending approval. The DTCC, which handles clearing, plans to begin clearing equity trades 24 hours a day by Q2 2026.
The exchange that gets there first with the best infrastructure could capture significant market share from competitors—and from the growing number of alternative trading venues.
What Investors Should Consider
Extended trading hours come with tradeoffs. Nasdaq President Tal Cohen has warned that overnight trading could bring higher volatility and increased transaction costs. Liquidity remains significantly lower outside regular market hours, meaning wider bid-ask spreads and potentially worse execution.
For retail investors, the temptation to trade at 2 AM after reading market-moving news could be dangerous. Studies consistently show that more trading activity correlates with worse returns for individual investors.
The Bottom Line
Nasdaq's SEC filing marks the beginning of the end for traditional market hours. Whether that's good for investors remains to be seen—but the change is coming regardless. The exchange is targeting a launch in the second half of 2026, pending regulatory approval. Mark your calendars: the market that never sleeps is almost here.
