Nasdaq (NDAQ) has announced that it will enable trading in U.S. stocks 23 hours a day starting on Dec. 6 of this year.
The move, which is still subject to regulatory approval, means Nasdaq trading will stretch from Sunday night to Friday night with stock buying and selling occurring nearly around the clock.
That’s a big change from the current trading day that runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Nasdaq currently runs extended trading sessions from 4 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., but access is restricted to institutional investors with direct market connections.
Nasdaq President Tal Cohen said the 23-hour a day trading will “broaden investor access and expand wealth-building opportunities.”
However, critics say that near around the clock trading will lead to greater market volatility and comes as a growing number of individual retail investors treat stock trading as gambling.
Equity exchanges such as Nasdaq are under pressure to broaden access and increase trading hours to investors who want to buy and sell stocks past 4 p.m. each day.
Exchange operators such as Nasdaq are also competing against new tools that let investors trade 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Tokenised real-world assets and perpetual futures contracts that let investors bet on an asset's price with no expiry date have shown strong demand for around-the-clock trading.
Nasdaq is not alone in moving to offer near constant stock trading.
The New York Stock Exchange has won regulatory approval for a 22-hour trading day that runs from 1:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Cboe Global Markets (CBOE), the largest exchange for options contracts in the U.S., has said it too wants to move to near 24-hour trading.
Nasdaq President Tal Cohen said the exchange ultimately wants to launch 24/7 trading where the stock market never closes.
NDAQ stock has risen 3% over the past 12 months to trade at $96.68 U.S. per share.
