Nasdaq Wins SEC Nod for 23-Hour Trading, Launch in December

Nasdaq has secured SEC approval to run near-continuous stock trading, narrowing the gap with crypto markets that have operated around the clock for years. The SEC signed off on April 10 on filing SR-NASDAQ-2025-109, formally allowing the exchange to extend its daily session to 23 hours. Production is set for December 6, with integration tests in October.

The new Night Session will run from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. Eastern Time, Sunday through Friday night. Nasdaq will keep its existing pre-market, regular, and post-market sessions unchanged. A one-hour technical pause between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. will handle processing and the transition between trading dates. Orders active at the close of each block will be canceled automatically.

Nasdaq said the extended hours respond to strong investor demand for access outside conventional trading windows, an expectation that crypto markets – open 24 hours a day, seven days a week – cemented over the past decade. The exchange clarified that the new scheme does not incorporate blockchain technology or tokenize equities under this specific launch. The initiative stays within the regulated Nasdaq Stock Market infrastructure. Opening and closing auctions will remain tied to regular hours for price references on listed securities. Nasdaq's 2025 annual report, however, mentioned separate tokenized equity initiatives within broader modernization plans, which has led crypto-focused coverage to link the two.

The Unlisted Trading Privileges Securities Information Processor set its own extended-hours start for December 6, with a price protection structure specific to the overnight segment. An SEC order dated August 5 approved the first phase of those controls, establishing 20% bands around reference prices between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. Primary listing markets will calculate upper and lower limits before each overnight session. Exchanges can activate regulatory halts if price formation deteriorates.

The mechanism resembles the Limit Up-Limit Down system that governs the regular session, though without the automatic halts of that scheme. The SEC explained the objective is to contain extraordinary volatility during periods of lower liquidity – a critical variable when comparing extended hours with cryptocurrency markets, where continuous access does not guarantee equivalent market depth.

On September 17, the SEC convenes a panel where Chair Paul Atkins will review operations and investor protection ahead of the December launch. That launch will mark the first Sunday overnight trading session for securities listed on Nasdaq under the approved plan.