Welcome to the world of 24-hour stock trading

Round-the-clock trading is becoming a reality. Individual investors say it is about time.

- Krystal Hur

For years, investors were confined to traditional Wall Street trading hours between 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. ET on weekdays and "extended hours" starting as early as 4 a.m. and ending at 8 p.m.

Now, brokerages seeking to meet the growing global appetite for U.S. stocks are extending their timetables.

Since Robinhood Markets and Interactive Brokers unveiled overnight trading in single stocks last year, other platforms have raced to expand their offerings. The New York Stock Exchange recently unveiled plans to extend trading on its all-electronic exchange to 22 hours a day. Charles Schwab plans to add individual stocks and hundreds of additional exchange-traded funds to its off-hours session. Webull recently expanded its 24-hour trading platform to include U.S. users, and Firstrade is launching overnight trading next year.

Investor appetite for stocks has been voracious in 2024. The S&P 500 has jumped 25%, driven by the artificial intelligence boom and expectations for interest-rate cuts. And investors have piled into funds tracking U.S. stocks since Donald Trump was elected president. Deutsche Bank said its measure of equity positioning posted its biggest weekly jump on record following the election, based on data going back to 2010.