24-Hour U.S Equities Trading Advances

Wedbush Securities has become the latest financial services firm to launch 24-hour trading for U.S. equities as the first phase of 24X National Exchange is due to launch in September this year.

24X National Exchange said it will be the first national securities exchange approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to offer 23-hour weekday trading of U.S. equities. In June this year 24 Exchange said in a statement that the first stage of the project will launch on 29 September 2025, with the exchange offering trading of U.S. equities from 4am ET to 8pm ET on weekdays, the current trading day for U.S stock exchanges.

Dmitri Galinov, founder and chief executive of 24X National Exchange, told Markets Media that clients, who have to be U.S broker-dealers, are connecting to the test system which has been built by MEMX Technologies. Overnight trading is particularly attractive to investors in Asia Pacific who want to be able to trade U.S. equities during their daylight hours so Galinov said the exchange is targeting brokers who handle that flow.

Several alternative trading systems (ATSs) already offer overnight trading of U.S stocks from 8pm ET to 4am ET, such as Blue Ocean. Galinov argues that 24X will have a competitive advantage as a regulated exchange.

"There is a requirement for broker-dealers to connect to the exchange because of the Reg NMS," he added. "The broker-dealer has to hit the exchange if it has the best price."

Galinov highlighted that another difference between an exchange and an ATS is the regulatory requirement for resiliency and back-up facilities.

"That is why we are using technology from MEMX, a regulated exchange," he said. "MEMX already licenses its technology to crypto firms who operate 24/7."

In addition, exchange prices are widely distributed as part of the SIP, a consolidated tape for U.S equities.The SIP is one of the pieces of market infrastructure that need to change to allow 24-hour trading.

Current reporting infrastructure means that trades that occur between midnight ET and 4 am ET are only reported once the Trade Reporting Facility (TRF) opens at 8 am ET. Activity from 8 pm until midnight are reported as Prior Day trades the following day, and are not typically reported in any data feeds. In addition, trades on Friday evening are not reported as Prior Day trades until Monday morning after 8am.

DTCC, the U.S post-trade infrastructure, has announced that its National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) subsidiary will increase clearing hours to support extended trading with implementation targeted for the second quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory review and approval of any necessary rule changes.

NSCC will then operate 24×5, from Sunday at 8 pm ET to Friday at 8 pm ET to support overnight trading activity from both ATSs and exchanges as the industry has indicated a preference for standard operating hours for the U.S. market for both types of venues.

At DTCC's Asset Services Virtual Forum the firm highlighted that considerations for moving to 24 hour trading include finalizing principles for a standardized trading week, a daily market pause, trade date rollovers and how to handle corporate actions, according to a blog. Jessica Crosson, DTCC director, asset services, said at the forum: "Shifting to 24×5 trading demands careful planning, from corporate actions handling to aligning trade date principles industry-wide."

Competition

In November last year the SEC approved 24X National Exchange to operate 23/5 trading hours from 8pm ET on Sunday through 8 pm ET on Friday, subject to changes in the SIP and a subsequent rule filing with the regulator. Once the reporting infrastructure changes, 24X will operate all day with a one-hour daily operational pause for software maintenance and testing.

In addition to competing with ATSs, other regulated exchanges have also announced plans to move to 24 hour trading, once they receive regulatory approval and market infrastructure aligns.

The New York Stock Exchange, part of Intercontinental Exchange, has announced plans to extend weekday trading on its NYSE Arca equities exchange to 22 hours a day. The extended trading would take place from 1:30 am ET to 11:30 pm ET on weekdays, excluding holidays. Nasdaq has also said it will enable 24-hour trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market in the second half of 2026.

Cboe Global Markets has also announced plans to offer 24×5 trading for U.S. equities on its Cboe EDGX Equities Exchange (EDGX). Cboe currently supports extended trading hours for U.S. equities on EDGX, with early order acceptance beginning at 2:30 am ET. Average daily volumes on EDGX increased by 135% between 2022 and 2024 during its early hours trading session between 4 am ET and 7 am ET, according to Cboe. The exchange already offers near 24×5 trading in its proprietary S&P 500 Index (SPX) options, and Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) options and futures markets, in addition to 24×5 trading in its global foreign exchange markets.

"We are very excited to see other exchanges coming in terms of resiliency and providing additional liquidity," added Galinov. "Our clients want to see multiple exchanges present in order to establish a reliable market in overnight hours when liquidity is lower."

He argued that the other exchanges have also created a big marketing push and raised awareness of overnight trading.

"Many banks are now connecting to us in order to participate in overnight trading from day one due to the noise, so that was a very positive change," he added.

Galinov believes that 24x can compete as a newcomer against the established exchanges as it operates a more modern technology stack, can offer a better customer experience and deliver changes and new order types more quickly.

"We can offer more economical trading because we are renting technology from MEMX," he added. "We can also offer stock in the new exchange to participants who provide order flow."

Galinov also highlighted that 24x also has a "very successful" foreign exchange business, where trading is 24-hour, and specializes in emerging markets. 24X has over 70 global banks connected for FX, as well as some buy-side firms. The biggest currency trade is the South Korean won, so 24X already has a lot of experience in Asia.

"Financial institutions that trade foreign exchange also trade stocks," he added. "We already have people speaking the local languages and talking to these clients, so I think we have a leg up."

Wedbush Securities

Wedbush Securities said in a statement on 15 July 2025 that it has launched 24-hour trading capabilities through partnerships with Blue Ocean Technologies and OTC Markets Group to enable overnight trading during Asia-Pacific hours.

Blue Ocean ATS and MOON ATS, owned by OTC Markets, both support overnight trading of U.S.-listed securities, while OTC Overnight provides access to over-the-counter equity trading during the same timeframe.

Burke Dempsey, head of investment banking & capital markets at Wedbush, said in a statement: "By partnering with Blue Ocean and OTC Markets, we are already bridging the gap across time zones to offer continuous liquidity and execution support."

Wedbush said the 24/7 execution capabilities pair with its recent announcement of support for clearing equities traded on leading overnight ATSs, including Blue Ocean and MOON.

Overnight volumes

Steven Poser, director of research at NYSE, said in a report that overnight trading remains a very small share of the overall market, less than 0.11% of total volume and 0.15% of notional in the year-to date.

"April's extreme volatility remains the top month for overnight trading with a record 0.14% of shares traded and 0.17% of notional, with June fractionally trailing April's result," he added.

Poser highlighted that several countries either restrict or completely block overnight trading in U.S. equities on ATSs and these may be lifted when on-exchange trading is available. However, capital restrictions may prevent or limit trading of U.S. stocks in other countries.