Nasdaq seeks SEC approval for 23-hour trading day targeted for Dec. 6, 2026

Nasdaq is working with regulators on a plan to trade U.S. equities 23 hours a day, five days a week, by adding an overnight session from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. ET. Combined with its existing 4 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. premarket window, regular trading from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and postmarket trading from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., the schedule would create a trading week that runs from Sunday at 9 p.m. to Friday at 8 p.m. ET, interrupted only by a one-hour daily pause from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. and a full Saturday shutdown. The industry is targeting Dec. 6, 2026 for the change, but the timeline depends on Securities Information Processor readiness, any needed SEC rule changes and separate SEC approval for the new overnight session. Nasdaq says the move is aimed at rising global demand for U.S. equities and wider access for investors outside standard U.S. market hours. The proposal is also being read by some market participants as a sign that traditional exchanges are adapting to investor expectations shaped by always-open crypto markets. Nate Geraci, CEO of Novadius Wealth Management, said on X that traditional finance exchanges are following the crypto market's model "whether they like it or not." For investors, longer hours could make it easier to respond to overnight news and trade across time zones, but thinner activity in off-peak periods can mean wider bid-ask spreads, weaker price discovery and sharper volatility. Robinhood, Webull, Interactive Brokers and Charles Schwab already offer overnight trading in varying forms, but Nasdaq's proposal would shift more of that activity onto exchange infrastructure with price-band protections and consolidated market data instead of relying mainly on alternative trading systems and dark pools.