Nasdaq to implement 24-hour trading model from second half of 2026

Nasdaq plans to enable 24-hour trading five days a week. The announcement was made by Tal Cohen, president of Nasdaq, in a LinkedIn post on Friday, March 7.

The second-largest stock exchange will implement the round-the-clock trading model in the second half of 2026, following regulatory approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and alignment with critical industry infrastructure providers, he said.

Nasdaq has begun engaging with regulators, market participants and other key stakeholders regarding the same, Cohen added.

This move is designed to make the US stock market more accessible to global investors across time zones.

As of June 2024, total foreign holdings in the US equity market reached $17 trillion, jumping 97% from 2019, Cohen said.

Furthermore, investors from the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region are “increasingly turning their attention to U.S. markets, drawn by the depth of opportunities, strong regulatory framework and access to high-growth sectors such as technology and healthcare,” the Nasdaq president added.

As financial literacy and digital trading platforms in the APAC region increase, investors have become more sophisticated in leveraging diverse strategies, like options and ETFs.

“For example, over 56 exchange-traded products have launched in the last five years tracking the Nasdaq-100 Index, and 98% of these products were introduced outside of the United States,” he added.

With more than 5,000 companies listed and traded on the exchange every day, Nasdaq has a market capitalisation of $42.91 billion as of March 8, 2025.