Extended hours trading

Not to be confused with Late trading.

After-hours trading is stock trading that occurs after the traditional trading hours of the major exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market. Since 1985, the regular trading hours in America have been from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).

Example chart of extended hours trading, via Google Finance

Trading outside these regular hours is not a new phenomenon but previously was limited to high net-worth investors and institutional investors like mutual funds.^{[citation needed]} The emergence of private trading systems, known as electronic communication networks or ECNs, has allowed individual investors to participate in after-hours trading.

After-hours trading on a day with a normal session occurs from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. ET.

After-hours trading is frequently abbreviated on message boards as AH. Traders during this time period are mostly small retail traders and not institutional investors, and, barring material news, it frequently does not reflect how trading will be the next morning.^{[citation needed]}

Trading also occurs before the traditional trading hours and is known as pre-market trading. Pre-market trading occurs from 7:00 to 9:30 a.m. ET.

National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) members who voluntarily entered quotations during the after-hours session are required to comply with all applicable limit order protection and display rules (e.g., the Manning rule and the SEC order handling rules).

See also

• List of market opening times
• List of stock exchanges

External links

• "Trade After-Hours". Invest FAQ. http://www.invest-faq.com/articles/trade-after-hours.html. 

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/afterhours.htm".