We'll Soon Be Able to Buy and Sell Stocks 24/7, but Should We?
The major stock exchanges are pushing toward all-day trading. It could help some investors, but not everyone loves the idea of a market that never sleeps.
The further we get into 2026, the louder the heralding will be for the eventual debut of round-the-clock trading on America's largest stock exchanges.
Some investors might view the change, which will happen within the next year or so, as a major step into a new age of trading. In truth, it's not – a number of investing platforms already allow us to buy and sell way outside of the opening and closing bells.
However, recent proposals from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq) would absolutely help to expand nearly round-the-clock trading. That in turn will likely lead to more brokerage platforms supporting it, which will likely lead to promoting it, which might eventually lead to a day when you ask yourself, "Should I partake in 24/7 trading?"
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Read on as I discuss the market's current schedule, where it might be going, and whether we should smile upon virtually nonstop trading sessions.
Current market trading hours
The regular stock market trading hours for the Nasdaq and NYSE are 9:30 am to 4 pm Eastern Standard Time on weekdays, except on stock market holidays.
Most investors buy and sell within those hours. And the majority of publicly traded companies report financial results either before the open or after the close. The media sets expectations in the morning, covers the action as it unfolds during the day and recaps the session's action in the evening.
But those aren't the only hours during which we can buy and sell stocks. The NYSE and Nasdaq also allow us to participate in …
- Pre-market trading: Hours vary, but range from as early as 4 am through the market open at 9:30 am.
- After-hours (or extended) trading: Again, hours vary, but typically run from 4 pm to 8 pm.
Some online brokers go even further. Charles Schwab offers 24-hour, five-day-a-week (24/5) trading of more than 1,100 stocks and ETFs. Firstrade does, too, on more than 1,200 securities. Discount brokers Robinhood and Webull also have 24-hour programs.
Stock exchanges' extended trading proposals
Over the past few months, the NYSE and Nasdaq have each made pushes to greatly expand the windows during which investors can access the stock market.
- NYSE: In 2024, NYSE operator Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) filed to extend hours on the NYSE Arca to a 22/5 schedule. The Securities and Exchange Commission approved that filing on an expedited basis, and the program is expected to roll out in late 2026 once it has made data-feed upgrades. Then, in January 2026, ICE announced a digital platform for the NYSE that would use "tokenized securities" to allow for not only 24/7 trading, but also instant settlement and dollar-based ordering. The system would be subject to regulatory approval.
- Nasdaq: In late 2025, the Nasdaq filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission to allow for almost round-the-clock trading. The proposal would move the Nasdaq to "23/5" trading, operated across two trading sessions: a day session from 4 am to 8 pm, then a night session from 9 pm to 4 am. The 8 pm-to-9 pm window would be reserved for maintenance and trade clearance. If approved, the change is expected to roll out in the second half of 2026.
Again: Some stockbrokers already offer their own forms of 24-hour investing. But the exchanges' advancements would provide more universal infrastructure, likely allowing round-the-clock trading to become both much more widespread and uniform.
Should you embrace 24/7 trading?
If you've already had the means to invest around the clock but haven't, should you start only because the NYSE and Nasdaq are suddenly greasing the wheels?
I'd suggest not, with an asterisk.
Investors currently can place limit orders during off-market hours, but not market orders. That's not expected to change under the pending NYSE Arca and Nasdaq expansions.
That's no big deal for buy-and-hold investors, but a potential dealbreaker for more agile investors who want immediate fulfillment. Should either exchange open up order types in round-the-clock investing, that could meaningfully change the calculus for certain people.
But let's evaluate 24-hour trading on the merits alone.
There are advantages to being able to buy and sell stocks and funds outside of regular hours, and even in pre- and after-market sessions. For one, agile traders can take advantage of events that fall outside of the existing trading windows – especially companies with significant exposure to international news that could break while most of the U.S. sleeps.
And current market hours aren't convenient for everyone. Many people have no access to their brokerage account while they're at work during normal business hours. Second- and third-shifters, as well as those who live abroad, might not even be awake for much, if any, of a daily market session.
But there's a decent amount of opposition to the idea – including from Wall Street itself.
"This is literally the worst thing in the world," Wells Fargo's trading desk wrote in a December client note. "I cannot think of an action that single-handedly gamifies the stock market even more than it has already become. This is the epitome of making trading even more like gambling."
It's hard not to draw a parallel to sports gambling apps and "prediction markets," which already allow people to make wagers anytime, anywhere. Within the world of self-directed investing, emotional decision-making is already one of the biggest weights on performance – open more investors' windows to "almost always," and one could see how the risk of impulsive investing could rise.
Myriad other issues are at play. "Many economists raise concerns that 24/7 trading may yield lower volumes, inefficient price discovery and significant volatility swings from 24-hour trading and news cycle," writes Hallie Spear, Specialist, Capital Markets and Resilience Initiatives, at the World Economic Forum.
And there's also the burden on other market participants.
Publicly traded companies frequently release news and almost always announce corporate earnings outside the main trading window to avoid moving markets; widening the windows could disrupt that.
More institutionalized 24-hour markets could also force changes in the way trading desks are staffed and operate – perhaps an easier adaptation for large firms that already operate globally, but a taller task for smaller firms.
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