Nasdaq 23-hour trading approval redraws the market close
The SEC approved Nasdaq's plan to trade 23 hours a day, five days a week, pairing its 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. day session with a 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. night session.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| SEC release | 34-105199 |
| Date | April 10, 2026 |
| File number | SR-Nasdaq-2025-109 |
| Day Session | 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET |
| Daily pause | 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET |
| Night Session | 9:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. ET (next business day) |
| Night order types | Limit orders only |
| Deadline for implementation filing | 18 months from approval |
The Securities and Exchange Commission on April 10, 2026 granted accelerated approval to Nasdaq’s proposal to extend trading to 23 hours a day, five days a week. The order, Release No. 34-105199, does not eliminate the 4:00 p.m. market close for regular hours, but it changes what the close means: the last print of the regular session will no longer be the end of the exchange’s trading day.
Nasdaq’s plan restructures trading into two sessions. A Day Session runs from 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern and folds together the existing pre-market hours (4:00 to 9:30 a.m.), regular hours (9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) and post-market hours (4:00 to 8:00 p.m.). A new Night Session runs from 9:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. the next business day. Between them, an hour-long pause from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. is reserved for maintenance and processing of corporate actions.
The Night Session comes with tighter rules than daytime trading. Only limit orders are accepted; unpriced and pegged orders are excluded. Participants must use dedicated ports. Nasdaq committed to a dedicated real-time surveillance team for the overnight window and to enhanced risk disclosures for customers. Trading halts follow the decisions of a security’s primary listing market, and fees will be set in a later filing.
Approval does not mean an immediate start. Nasdaq cannot open the Night Session until the operators of the Equity Data Plans confirm they can collect and disseminate overnight quotes and trades, and until Nasdaq files and wins SEC approval for a separate rule change confirming it is ready. The exchange has up to 18 months from approval to make that implementation filing.
For investors and the media, the change will complicate the familiar shorthand of the market close. Closing prices from the 4:00 p.m. auction will remain the reference point for index levels, fund valuations and most end-of-day reporting, but prices may continue to move for hours afterward on the same exchange. Brokers will need to explain to customers which session an order is eligible for, and how liquidity and spreads at 2:00 a.m. differ from those at 2:00 p.m.
What to watch: the data plan readiness confirmation, Nasdaq’s implementation filing and its fee proposal for the Night Session, and how other exchanges with overnight ambitions align their schedules with the 9:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. window approved here.
Prepared with AI assistance from public sources and reviewed under our editorial policy. Not investment advice.