Major change in US stocks! Nasdaq 23-hour trading, 17 trillion in foreign investment without staying up late

Eastern Time December 15, Nasdaq announced to the SEC that it has submitted documents to apply for extending the U.S. stock trading hours from 16 hours per week to 23 hours. Nasdaq aims to officially launch in the second half of 2026, with the NYSE and CBOE also pushing similar plans. Foreign investors hold a total market value of U.S. stocks reaching $17 trillion, and Asian-European timezone investors will no longer need to stay up late to trade.

The Trading Revolution from 16 to 23 Hours

The Nasdaq filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on December 15 marks a significant transformation of the century-old trading system in the U.S. stock market. When Nasdaq implements “23/5” (trading 23 hours a day, five days a week), the plan sets two trading sessions: the daytime session from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m., followed by one hour for maintenance, testing, and trade clearing; the nighttime session from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. the next day.

The daytime session will continue to include pre-market, regular, and after-hours trading, with the opening bell at 9:30 a.m. and the closing bell at 4 p.m. The night session’s trades from 9 p.m. to midnight will be counted as next-day trading. The trading week will start at 9 p.m. on Sunday and close at 8 p.m. on Friday after the daytime trading hours. This arrangement extends U.S. stock trading hours from the original five days (Monday to Friday, 16 hours x 5 days = 80 hours) to 115 hours (23 hours x 5 days), an increase of 43.75%.

Chuck McElveen, Senior Vice President of Nasdaq North America, explicitly stated: “The market has become more globalized.” He pointed out that international investors want to eliminate time zone restrictions and participate in U.S. stock trading according to their local schedules. This stance directly reflects the exchange’s sharp response to customer demand changes and demonstrates Nasdaq’s proactive posture in global competition. According to Nasdaq data, nearly two-thirds of global listed company market capitalization is in U.S. stocks, and foreign investors held a total of $17 trillion in U.S. stocks last year.

Details of the Nasdaq 23/5 Trading System

Daytime Session: 4 a.m. - 8 p.m. (16 hours), including pre-market, regular, and after-hours trading, with open/close bells retained

Maintenance Period: 8 p.m. - 9 p.m. (1 hour), for system maintenance, testing, and clearing

Night Session: 9 p.m. - 4 a.m. next day (7 hours), trades from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. count as next-day trades

Trading Week: Opens at 9 p.m. Sunday and closes at 8 p.m. Friday, totaling 115 hours

Time Zone Liberation and Liquidity Controversy for Asia-Europe Investors

The core motivation behind Nasdaq promoting 23-hour trading is to meet the huge demand from global investors for U.S. stocks. Analysts point out that, with the acceleration of capital market globalization, U.S. stocks have become an important asset allocation for international investors. Investors in Asia, Europe, and other time zones often need to trade late at night or early morning locally, greatly limiting convenience. For example, for Asian investors, the regular trading hours (9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. EST) correspond to 10:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. Beijing time, most of which is during sleep hours.

The night session (9 p.m. - 4 a.m. EST) corresponds to 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Beijing time, which aligns with Asian investors’ working hours. This time zone match will fundamentally change the trading experience for Asian investors, eliminating the need to stay up late watching screens or setting up algorithmic trading. For European investors, the night hours match their local afternoon to late night, greatly improving convenience as well. McElveen said that currently, investors seeking “7x24” trading rely on over-the-counter trading venues or alternative trading systems, but the extended services provided by regulated exchanges will offer better liquidity and price discovery.

However, major Wall Street institutions are cautious about promoting continuous trading, citing concerns over reduced liquidity, increased volatility, and uncertain returns. Trading volume during extended hours is usually much lower than regular hours, which could widen bid-ask spreads and increase slippage. Additionally, when major institutional investors are resting, markets may be more susceptible to manipulation by a few large orders, increasing the risk of abnormal price fluctuations. Liquidity experts worry that 24-hour trading might fragment rather than increase overall trading volume, leading to shallower depth in each session.

In response, McElveen said that although trading volume during extended hours is usually much lower than regular hours, demand for trading during U.S. night hours has been growing rapidly. “We see these trends emerging in the U.S. stock market, specifically with increasing demand from investors outside the U.S. for Nasdaq-listed companies, and this demand is much stronger than in the past.” He emphasized that Nasdaq has established a highly resilient system with high throughput capable of handling stress and volatility.

Implementation Timeline and Industry Follow-up in 2026

Nasdaq aims to officially launch extended trading services in the second half of 2026. This schedule is highly synchronized with other industry giants: NYSE and CBOE are also advancing similar plans. This indicates that extended trading hours have become a mainstream trend in the U.S. capital markets, rather than a single exchange’s experimental effort. When multiple top exchanges move forward together, the likelihood of regulatory approval and the certainty of implementation are greatly increased.

The key to successful round-the-clock trading lies in infrastructure upgrades. Securities information processors that display the most accurate U.S. stock quotes must support 23-hour operation. The DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation), which handles central clearing and settlement in the U.S., plans to launch all-day settlement services for stocks by the end of 2026, providing the necessary backend support for extended trading. Once the clearing systems can operate 24 hours, the technical barriers to extending trading hours will be fully removed.

Earlier this year, Nasdaq submitted documents to U.S. regulators aiming to launch tokenized stock trading. Previously, under the Trump administration’s deregulation efforts, the exchange tried to double down on the tokenization trend. Extending trading hours in conjunction with tokenized stocks indicates Nasdaq’s full bet on digital transformation. When stocks can be traded 23 hours a day and circulated on the blockchain as tokens, the line between traditional stocks and crypto assets will become even more blurred. This fusion could redefine the operation mode of capital markets, with the second half of 2026 being a critical moment to validate this vision.