What you will learn
- Give the regular US stock market hours and explain why most investors are better off trading then
- Describe pre-market and after-hours trading, including the extra risks
- Use liquidity and spreads to explain why extended-hours fills can be rough
- Tell which markets keep set hours and which trade around the clock
The stock market has a daily schedule. That schedule matters because trading conditions change with the clock. A stock may be easier to trade during regular hours and much harder to trade after the closing bell. Liquidity, spreads, and price swings all depend in part on when you place the order.
Trading in the pre-market and after-hours (Charles Schwab)
The walkthrough covers the sessions outside regular hours and the risks that come with them. Notice what happens to spreads when fewer people are trading.
Regular US market hours
US stock exchanges run their regular session from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time on weekdays, except holidays. Most trading volume appears during this window. More buyers and sellers usually mean deeper liquidity and tighter spreads, so the regular session is generally the safest and least costly time for most investors to trade.
Key terms
- Regular session
- The main US stock trading window: 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time on weekdays.
- Pre-market
- Trading before the regular market opens, often in response to overnight or early morning news.
- After-hours
- Trading after the 4:00 p.m. close, often in response to earnings released after the bell.
- Extended hours
- The pre-market and after-hours sessions. Both tend to be thinner and riskier than regular trading.
Before the open and after the close
Pre-market and after-hours trading make up the extended-hours sessions. They let investors respond to news, such as an earnings report, while the regular market is closed. Far fewer people trade during these periods. That usually brings lower volume, wider spreads, and sharper price moves. Your order may fill at a price you did not expect, especially if you use a market order.
- Pre-market takes place before the opening bell. Overnight and early morning news often drives the action.
- After-hours begins after the close. Earnings announcements released after 4:00 p.m. often move prices.
- Opening and closing auctions collect many orders at once to set one opening or closing price. A lot of volume can gather in these auctions.
| Session | Approximate time (ET) | Typical trading conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-market | Early morning before 9:30 | Fewer orders and wider spreads |
| Regular session | 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. | Deepest liquidity and tightest spreads |
| After-hours | After 4:00 p.m. | Fewer orders, wider spreads, and sharp news-driven moves |
You can trade outside regular hours, but there may be fewer people willing to meet you at a good price.
Earnings arrive at 4:15 p.m.
A company releases surprising earnings at 4:15 p.m., after the regular market has closed. Its stock is jumping around in after-hours trading. As a beginner, which response is more careful?
A beginner should be careful after hours. Liquidity is thin, spreads are wide, and a limit order offers more price control than a market order.Some markets run much longer
Stock exchanges have set hours, although exchanges in different time zones open and close at different local times. Other markets follow a different schedule. Foreign exchange, or forex, trades about 24 hours a day on weekdays. Cryptocurrency trades 24 hours a day every day, weekends included.
How to trade pre-market and after-hours
A platform demonstration shows how an extended-hours trade is placed. Look at the order book and notice how much thinner it is outside the regular session.
Which market keeps which hours?
Match each market with its usual trading schedule.
Pick your trading window
When would you usually place a stock trade, based on how liquidity changes during the day? Explain your choice and mention spreads.
Write an answer before comparing it with the model response.
Model answer
I would usually trade during the regular session, between about 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern. Liquidity is deepest and spreads are tightest then, so I would give up less money to the spread and face less risk of an unpredictable fill than I would before or after regular hours.
The time on the clock can change the cost and risk of the same trade. Up next, we turn from trading shares to one way that owning them can pay you: dividends.