US stock trading ushered in historic changes! Nasdaq (NDAQ.US) submits application to launch “all-weather trading” five days a week in 2026

The Zhitong Finance App learned that as a listing location for technology giants such as NVDA.US (NVDA.US), Apple (AAPL.US), and Amazon (AMZN.US), NASDAQ (NDAQ.US), one of the world's largest exchanges, plans to submit documents to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday local time to apply for the launch of a round-the-clock stock trading service to meet the strong demand for US stocks in the global market.

In recent years, investors' demand for uninterrupted trading of US stocks has surged, prompting regulators to introduce new regulations and approve proposals from many mainstream exchanges to extend trading hours. According to data provided by NASDAQ, the market value of the US stock market accounts for about two-thirds of the total market value of global listed companies. As of last year, the total amount of US stocks held by foreign investors had reached 17 trillion US dollars.

The submission of SEC documents marks the official launch of the NASDAQ process of trading around the clock, five days a week. In March of this year, Nasdaq President Tal Cohen said that the exchange has begun negotiations with regulators and expects to launch a five-day weekly uninterrupted trading service in the second half of 2026. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE.US) also recently announced similar all-weather stock trading plans.

“The trend of globalization has continued for some time, and the US market itself has become more and more global,” said Chuck Mack, senior vice president of NASDAQ's North American market, in an interview.

Daily double trading session

According to the plan, NASDAQ will extend the daily trading hours for stocks and exchange-traded products (ETPs) from the current 16 hours to 23 hours, operating five days a week. NASDAQ currently has three trading sessions on weekdays: pre-market (4:00-9:30 EST), regular (9:30-16:00), and after-hours (16:00-20:00). After changing to the 23-hour/5-day model, it will be changed to two continuous periods: daytime (4:00-20:00) and nighttime (21:00 to 4:00 the next day), with 1 hour in between for system maintenance, testing, and transaction settlement.

The daytime session will still include pre-market, regular, and after-market trading sessions, and the opening (9:30) and closing (16:00) ceremonies will be retained. During the nighttime period, transactions executed between 21:00 and 24:00 midnight will be included in the next day's transaction records. The new trading week starts every Sunday at 21:00 and continues until the end of the day session at 20:00 on Friday.

The key to the successful launch of round-the-clock trading is the upgrade of the Securities Information Processor (SIP) — a system responsible for displaying the most accurate stock quotes from US exchanges. As a central clearing hub, the American Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) plans to launch an uninterrupted stock clearing service by the end of 2026.

Proponents of round-the-clock trading believe that this move will enable investors (especially those outside of the US) to respond more quickly to market movements that occur outside of regular trading hours. However, major Wall Street banks are wary of this, fearing that this move may lead to reduced liquidity, increased volatility, and increased uncertainty about return on investment.

“Trade on your own terms, in your own time zone”

Mack pointed out that although the volume of extended trading sessions is usually far lower than the regular session, demand for night trading of US stocks continues to soar. Currently, investors who want to trade 24 hours a day mainly rely on OTC trading platforms (alternative trading systems) such as Blue Ocean, Bruce ATS, and OTC Moon.

“We have seen a sharp increase in demand for NASDAQ listed company shares in non-US regions. This trend is already fully evident in the US stock market,” Mack said. “Investors from all over the world want to participate in this huge market on their own terms and in their own time zone.”

Trading on major exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange dates back more than a century, when brokers had to process orders by hand on the trading floor. Although most stock trading is now electronic, the trading hours of most US exchanges have remained essentially the same for decades.

Earlier this year, taking advantage of the Trump administration's relaxation of cryptocurrency regulations and the rise of the tokenization boom, NASDAQ submitted an application to US regulators to launch tokenized stock trading services.

“When the market is under pressure and fluctuation, transaction traffic and activity increase significantly,” Mack emphasized. We have built extremely resilient, high-throughput systems that are capable of handling such scenarios.”