Extended Hours and 24-Hour Trading at IBKR
In this article, we’ll explore:
• IBKR customers have multiple ways to trade stocks, ETFs, and other asset classes outside regular sessions.
• In addition to pre-market and post-market sessions, Interactive Brokers also offers 24/5 trading on thousands of equities, ETFs, and options.
• Futures, forex, and crypto can be traded around the clock with an IBKR account.
Overview of Extended Hours at Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers aims to be the top choice for advanced traders worldwide, and this is evident in its approach to extended hours. The firm lets customers trade many products day or night. No other broker we know of can match this coverage. Here are the specifics:
IBKR Extended Hours for Securities
Let’s begin with extended-hours trading for stocks and ETFs. IBKR offers pre-market and after-hours sessions, making trading outside normal hours as easy as trading during the day. The pre-market session goes from 7:00 am Eastern to the opening bell. IBKR Pro users may start at 4:00 am, 3 hours earlier. Both IBKR Lite and Pro users can continue trading until 8:00 pm after the closing bell.
To place an order before or after the market on the web portal, just log in and head to the security’s profile by typing its name or ticker symbol and choosing it from the dropdown list.
On the profile page, click the blue buy or the red sell button. Both lead to the same order form. Select the order type and duration. You’ll see a dropdown labeled ‘Outside RTH.’ Choosing yes lets the order fill during pre-market or post-market hours, though you can’t select just one of those sessions.
On Trader Workstation, the firm’s advanced desktop platform, there’s a similar choice labeled ‘Fill outside RTH.’ You’ll also see ‘Allow pre-open,’ which excludes the post-market window. And there’s a third option: ‘Overnight Trading.’ We’ll look at that next.
IBKR Overnight Trading for Securities
IBKR goes even further. For night owls, the broker offers overnight trading from 8:00 pm to 4:00 am the next day. Technically, there’s a brief pause from 3:50 am to 4:00 am. No trading happens during that time, so it’s almost 24-hour trading, but not entirely. It’s also not 24/7, since trading stops Friday at 8:00 pm and resumes Sunday at 8:00 pm.
The best aspect of IBKR’s overnight session is the large selection of stocks and ETFs—about 10,000. There are thousands of equity options that can be traded overnight, too.
Both Lite and Pro clients can take part in overnight trading, but you have to electronically sign a risk disclosure first. To do this, log in to the website and click the head-and-shoulders icon at the top. Select settings, then Trading Permissions. You’ll see an After Hours Trading Risk Disclosure that needs your signature.
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Crypto Trading
Next are cryptocurrencies, which trade 24/7. This gives another route for after-hours and weekend trading. Before placing crypto trades, you must add crypto trading to your IBKR account. Available coins include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin.
Crypto transactions pass through IBKR’s platform via Paxos and Zero Hash. If you enable the Plus trading permission, you can also trade directly on those services, which is handy during IBKR’s maintenance periods. This option makes 24/7 crypto trading possible.
Futures and Forex
Traditional currencies don’t run 24/7, but they do trade 24/5 (from Sunday at 5:00 pm, EST, to Friday at 5:00 pm). Futures typically follow similar schedules, although each contract can differ, so check hours for each product.
Because Interactive Brokers supports both futures and forex, these products add more ways to trade around the clock.
Gold and Silver
IBKR users can also trade metals like gold and silver in London’s 24/7 marketplace. If you want to trade spot gold at any hour on Trader Workstation, type in XAUUSD and configure your order as desired.
Foreign Exchanges
Finally, IBKR provides access to numerous global exchanges, many of which are active when U.S. markets are closed. For example, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (a major market in China) runs while the NYSE is shut, giving IBKR customers more trading opportunities (though it isn’t commission-free).
Assets Not Available for IBKR 24/7 Trading
Unfortunately, not every product at Interactive Brokers can be traded anytime. Mutual funds, for instance, trade only once daily after the market closes (some foreign mutual funds may differ).
Bonds are another example. They only trade during regular weekday hours. However, global bond markets may be accessible when U.S. bond markets are closed.
IBKR Fees During Extended Hours
Interactive Brokers doesn’t charge extra for extended-hours trading, nor does it impose special minimums. That said, certain exchanges do involve standard commissions.
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Moomoo as an Alternative
Moomoo’s interface can be simpler than Interactive Brokers’ tools, which might appeal to some traders.
It also supports 16 hours of trading (4:00 am, EST, to 8:00 pm),
and it has no commissions during that period.
Moomoo has a single order ticket that requires choosing extended hours. This is the Order Entry ticket on the desktop platform. You can select only the day session, or the day session plus extended hours. There’s no option for only pre-market or only after-hours on that ticket.
For other tickets on the desktop system, extended hours must be enabled system-wide under the Trade menu (the icon in the lower-left corner).
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Updated on 2/19/2026.
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