Sec approves first 24-hour US exchange

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the first U.S. stock exchange that will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The new exchange, called the 24X National Exchange, is backed by billionaire Steve Cohen’s Point72 Ventures fund. The 24X National Exchange will initially offer three trading sessions starting at 4 a.m. and extending to 7 p.m. in New York. The exchange plans to add an overnight session from 8 p.m. until 4 a.m. once certain data requirements are met. This means the exchange will operate from Sunday evening through Friday evening, with a one-hour break starting at 7 p.m. each day. Dmitri Galinov, the founder and CEO of 24X National Exchange, said, “The SEC’s approval of our new exchange is a thrilling development that the 24X Team has been working toward for many years. Traders are most at risk when the market is closed in their geographic location.” The idea of nonstop stock trading has divided opinions on Wall Street. Supporters say it gives investors the flexibility to respond quickly to news outside regular U.S. market hours.

Sec approves nonstop stock trading

Critics warn that trading quality may suffer due to lower volume, making pricing less precise. Interest in after-hours trading has grown since the pandemic, with companies like Robinhood Markets Inc. and Interactive Brokers Group Inc. allowing their customers to trade U.S. stocks 24 hours a day, five days a week, on Blue Ocean’s alternative trading system. The New York Stock Exchange has also filed an application to offer trading 22 hours on weekdays. The consumer advocacy group Better Markets criticized the SEC’s approval of the 24X National Exchange. Benjamin Schiffrin, the group’s director of securities policy, said, “Retail investors trading during an overnight session will be trading in a market where there are few buyers and sellers, and where prices will be more volatile and less favorable than during normal hours. This means that, during overnight sessions, retail investors will only get the best prices in a bad market, thereby losing money if they had traded during normal business hours.”