US markets to expand to 23-hour weekday trading on Dec. 6

Starting December 6, 2026, US equity markets will operate 23 hours a day, five days a week. The one-hour break each evening, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET, is reserved for maintenance. Every other hour belongs to the traders. The Securities and Exchange Commission approved the infrastructure changes needed to make this happen, and the agency has gone a step further: it’s openly exploring whether full 24/7 trading should come next. How the new schedule works The weekly cycle will kick off Sunday at 9 p.m. ET and run continuously, minus the nightly maintenance window, through Friday at 8 p.m. ET. A new “Night Session” covers the stretch from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. ET each trading day, opening US equities to investors in Asia and Europe during their local business hours. Nasdaq received accelerated approval for its extended-hours plan around April 2026. NYSE Arca is also among the major exchanges preparing for the launch. The SEC approved amendments to the Securities Information Processors, or SIPs, on June 26, 2026. SIPs are the systems that consolidate and distribute real-time quote and trade data across exchanges. Then, on June 28-29, the National Securities Clearing Corporation flipped the s...