Extended-Hours Trading Explained
If you work during typical business hours and can't trade during the stock market's regular session from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm EST, you still have options. Many brokers offer trading outside these hours—known as pre-market and after-hours trading—allowing you to trade on your own schedule.
Extended-Hours Trading Varies from Broker to Broker
Not all brokerage firms offer extended-hours trading. Among those that do, the available hours can vary significantly. For example, Vanguard offers after-hours trading until 6:30 pm but doesn't provide pre-market trading. On the other hand, Webull offers extensive trading hours from 4:00 am to 8:00 pm, the longest period available for stock trading among online brokers today.
For ETFs, some brokers even allow trading overnight, which means you could trade certain funds from 8:00 pm to 4:00 am.
Placing an Extended-Hours Trade
To trade before the market opens or after it closes, you generally need to opt-in for extended-hours trading or select a special option on your trade ticket. For example, Webull users must select the "Extended Hours" option on their trade ticket to make their order eligible for execution during these times.
Different brokers have various systems. For instance, Firstrade provides options for after-hours only, pre-market only, or a combination of both plus the regular session on their order ticket.
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Why Would You Want to Trade During Extended Hours?
Investors might want to trade outside regular market hours for several reasons. For example, U.S. companies typically release their earnings reports before the market opens or after it closes, which can present significant trading opportunities that would be unavailable during regular hours.
Other reasons include reacting to news events or economic data released overnight, which can significantly affect stock prices before the next regular session begins.
Overnight Trading
In the U.S., one brokerage firm now allows overnight trading of stocks and ETFs. This service operates 24 hours a day, five days a week, pausing only from Friday evening to Sunday evening.
At
Robinhood, over 200 stocks and ETFs are available for overnight trading, including well-known funds like SPY and GLD. To access the full list, click on the Robinhood logo to go to the main page, scroll down to the "Trending Lists" section, and select the "24 Hour Market."
Placing a trade for overnight stocks and ETFs is straightforward; they are traded just like during daytime hours.
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Updated on 7/9/2024.