Nasdaq Seeks SEC Approval For 23-Hour, Five-Day Trading Schedule

(RTTNews) - Nasdaq, the second-largest stock exchange in the U.S., is seeking regulatory approval to extend its trading hours to allow equity securities and exchange-traded products to be traded 23 hours a day, five days a week.

The plan aims to meet growing investor demand for overnight access to U.S. stocks, particularly from international markets.

Under the proposal, Nasdaq would operate a daytime session from 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, largely unchanged from current trading hours, and introduce a new overnight "Night Session" from 9:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. ET. Trading would pause for one hour each weekday for system maintenance and processing corporate actions.

Overnight trading would offer limited functionality, with fewer order types and reduced regulatory protections compared with regular market hours. Nasdaq said it would launch the expanded hours only after market data systems are ready to support overnight trading.

"This evolution reflects a simple reality: global investors expect access on their terms, in their time zones, without compromising trust or market integrity," Chuck Mack, senior vice president of North American markets at Nasdaq, said in an emailed statement.