Schwab Expands 24-Hour Trading to S&P 500, Nasdaq-100 Stocks
The move will allow Schwab to process an average of approximately six million daily trades, the company said.
Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) customers can now trade S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 stocks around the clock on weekdays, including exchange-traded funds, through expanded overnight trading, according to a company announcement Wednesday.
The $10.1 trillion asset manager has enabled trading in these major indices through its thinkorswim platform, the announcement said.
The expansion comes as global market events increasingly affect U.S. stocks outside regular trading hours, potentially affecting millions of retail investors who previously had limited ability to react to overnight market moves.
“Market-moving news doesn’t wait for standard market hours, and retail traders know what a difference it can make to have access to the markets when volatility spikes,” James Kostulias, managing director and head of trading services at Charles Schwab, said in the announcement.
The move follows a successful pilot program that ran from November through January, according to the announcement. During the pilot, trading activity concentrated between 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. to 4 a.m.
Evolution of Extended Hours Trading
The shift toward 24-hour trading gained momentum after TD Ameritrade, now owned by Schwab, pioneered 24/5 trading in 2018 with approximately two dozen ETFs, according to the announcement.
The Securities and Exchange Commission approved an application for 24X National Exchange to operate a U.S. stock exchange that trades between 4 a.m and 7 p.m. on weekdays and from 8 p.m. Sunday through 7 p.m. Friday, allowing nearly continuous trading throughout the week.
Tesla Inc. (TSLA), Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR), MicroStrategy Inc. (MSTR), and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) emerged as the most actively traded securities during the overnight pilot period, according to the release.
The expansion enables Schwab to process approximately an average of 6 million daily trades, double the volume of competitors who publicly share the figures, the announcement said.
Schwab's products include more than 33 ETFs in fixed income and equities, including the Schwab U.S. Large-Cap ETF (SCHX) and Schwab Ultra-Short Income ETF (SCUS), as well as access to thousands of other ETFs.
Schwab was changing hands just below $82 per share, down 1.5% in Wednesday afternoon trading.
