NYSE starts early and late options trading, plans 23-hour sessions in December

The New York Stock Exchange began extended-hours trading in options on Monday, October 19, 2026, adding a morning session from 7:30 a.m. to 9:25 a.m. and a short evening session from 4:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. US Eastern time on its NYSE American Options market. The change covers options on 29 large stocks and exchange-traded funds, including Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF. The exchange plans to stretch trading in the same names to 23 hours a day, five days a week, from December 6, 2026.

An option is a contract that gives its buyer the right, but not the duty, to buy or sell a share or fund at a set price before a set date. Traders use options to bet on price moves or to protect a portfolio against a fall. Until now, options on these names on the NYSE traded only during the regular session. That meant an investor could not use them to react to news released outside those hours, such as company results announced after the close, until the next morning.

The NYSE said the change answers customer demand. Its chief product officer said extended trading hours for options reflect demand for investment opportunities and reliable risk management over a longer period. The bigger story is the race between exchanges. Cboe has announced its own extended trading, and the NYSE's December plan for 23-hour trading would bring US options close to round-the-clock trading.

There are reasons for caution. Trading outside normal hours is usually thinner, meaning fewer buyers and sellers, which can widen the gap between buying and selling prices and make prices jumpier. The low volumes on the first day suggest it will take time for activity to build.

For India, the change matters in two ways. First, US markets now react to news for longer, and the Indian market often takes its opening cue from how US stocks and futures moved overnight. Second, Indian exchanges have debated longer hours themselves. The National Stock Exchange's plan for an evening derivatives session from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. was rejected by the Securities and Exchange Board of India in 2024, with the regulator citing a lack of feedback from brokers. The only recent change has been the 10-minute extension of the derivatives close in August 2026, linked to the new closing auction in the cash market. Indian markets were shut on October 20, 2026, for Dussehra.

Short-term: US traders and institutions can hedge or adjust positions in the 29 covered names before the opening bell and just after the close. Volumes are likely to stay modest at first.

Long-term: If 23-hour trading starts in December, more price discovery for big US technology stocks will happen outside regular hours, including during Indian daytime. That could make US moves a more continuous influence on global markets.

Who is affected: Options traders and market makers in the US; global investors, including Indians who invest in US stocks through overseas investment routes; and Indian exchanges and regulators watching the global move to longer hours.

What should an Indian investor note? Options are complex and can lose money fast; thin extended-hours markets add to that risk. This report is information, not a recommendation to trade.

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