Moving forward on 24/7 trading, Cboe plans to extend trading hours for US stock options.

On Monday, the operator of the US stock exchange, Cboe Global Markets, is seeking to extend the trading hours for US equity options, further pushing the US market towards "almost 24/7" trading. According to a filing submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Cboe plans to add two additional trading periods outside of the regular 9:30-16:00 window, including an early trading period from 7:30-9:25 and an after-hours trading period from 16:00-16:15. This move aligns with the trend of extending trading hours in the US, as exchanges are trying to accommodate the demand from overseas investors and increase the overlap with trading hours of the underlying stock market. Currently, the volume of US stock options has been rapidly growing, driven by the rise of individual investors and the surge in same-day expiry contracts. According to OCC data, options volume reached 1.29 billion contracts in September, a 68% increase from two years ago. Cboe stated that the extended trading hours will initially only apply to certain individual stock options, with criteria such as trading volume, market value, and liquidity, and will be implemented in a "small-scale, limited-time" manner. The company mentioned in a statement that introducing specific options during extended hours will help align with the underlying stock market and provide investors with flexibility to adjust positions and manage risks during non-traditional hours, while also being seen as a step towards a "24x5" trading system. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for extended trading hours has significantly increased, as investors need to respond to sudden market events during nighttime hours. Many trading platforms have already started supporting extended trading. Brokerages like Robinhood (HOOD.US) and Interactive Brokers (IBKR.US) have allowed investors to trade US stocks "24 hours x 5 days" on off-exchange systems such as Blue Ocean and Bruce Markets. Earlier this year, Cboe also proposed extending its stock trading from Sunday evening to Friday evening, with a break only on weekends. If full-time trading is to be implemented on exchanges like Nasdaq or NYSE in the future, clearing institutions such as DTCC and market data infrastructure like SIP will need to undergo synchronized upgrades. DTCC has announced plans to extend its clearing window starting in the second quarter of next year, and SIP is evaluating expanding its coverage of trading data to "nearly 24 hours".