5 ms·
Largely, it's legacy in the United States. When human specialists were in control of the book for a stock, the market opened at 9:30, and closed at 16:00. It
by uxcn 11y ago
Largely, it's legacy in the United States. When human specialists were in control of the book for a stock, the market opened at 9:30, and closed at 16:00. It probably hasn't changed for nearly a century.
More algorithms are trading around the clock though, since markets are more interconnected than ever. To trade effectively, you need to be more aware of what has happened since market close as well. More explicitly, instruments have global presences.
Running and maintaining systems, and trading 24/7 would be a major shift for a lot of institutions though. So, my guess is that it once an ATS can get approval to start trading continuously, outside human hours, the rest (including exchanges) will need to adapt.
- anonu 11y agoCurrent trading hours on the NYSE were last changed in 1985 when they were 10am to 4pm. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-brief-history-of-trading-hours-on-wall-street-2015-05-29 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-brief-history-of-trading-...
- minimax 11y agoThe NYSE is only one of 11 registered US equity exchanges. There are other exchanges that open earlier and close later (for example the NYSE owned Arca exchange trades from 4am to 8pm Eastern).
- uxcn 11y agoStocks in the United States generally aren't listed outside of NYSE and Nasdaq though (unless you count BATS).