The New York Stock Exchange is surveying market participants on their thoughts about the stock market being operated 24 hours a day.
Currently, equities can only be traded on the NYSE between 9.30am and 4pm Eastern Time. Other assets such as stock futures, US Treasury bonds, and cryptocurrencies can be traded at any time.
Per a Financial Times report, the survey, put out by the stock exchange's data analytics team, asked respondents if trading should take place on weekends, how investors should be protected from price swings, and their insights into overnight staffing arrangements.
Interest in round-the-clock equities trading has risen in recent years due to the fact cryptocurrency trading operates 24/7 and increased retail investor activity post-pandemic. There is also increased interest in US equities from investors in Europe and Asia.
Some brokers already offer 24/7 weekday access to US stocks which are either matched with their internal holdings or via a “dark pool” trading venue, a private forum for trading securities which usually trades with Asian retail investors during their daytime hours.
It is also possible to trade before the market opens from 4am and after it closes until 8pm but this tends to attract higher transaction fees and liquidity is generally lower.
An overnight exchange would have increased regulatory oversight when compared to “dark pools,” being directly supervised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
This comes as 24 Exchange, a start-up backed by Steve Cohen’s Point72 hedge fund, is seeking the approval of the SEC for a 24/7 exchange called 24X.
“Anyone who wants to trade crypto 24/7 would also like to trade Apple or Microsoft 24/7,” 24 Exchange CEO Dmitri Galinov told Bloomberg in 2023.
The SEC has several months to evaluate the company's proposal.