ナスダックの23時間じかん取引とりひき案あんに対たいする米べい大手おおて金融機関きんゆうきかんの厳きびしい批判ひはん――市場しじょうの「ゲーム化げーむか」を懸念けねん

Nasdaq, one of the leading stock exchanges in the United States, officially applied to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission SEC on December 15, 2023, for permission to extend weekday trading hours to a maximum of 23 hours.

If this application is approved, stocks listed on the Nasdaq will be tradable during two sessions: the Daytime Trading Session from 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and the Overnight Trading Session from 9:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. the following day.

However, analysts at Wells Fargo, a major American financial institution, expressed strong concerns about this move.

In a research memo released on December 16, they harshly criticized, This is truly the worst-case scenario, a quintessential example of gamifying the stock market and promoting trading as a form of gambling. Furthermore, while market orders remain limited to the period between 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. as before, limit orders are available during both regular trading hours and after-hours sessions.

Nasdaq claims that by significantly extending trading hours, it will broaden market participation opportunities for investors outside the United States and enable the U.S. market to compete with overseas securities markets.

On the other hand, Wells Fargo pointed out that trading volume usually concentrates right after the market opens or just before it closes, expressing the view that “it’s hard to understand why this industry is so intent on extending trading hours.” They countered by saying, “There has never been a case where trading was so unilaterally gamified like this before.”

Currently, the regular trading hours for Nasdaq are from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., but during the pre-market session, you can place limit orders from 4:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., and during the after-market session, trading is possible from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Furthermore, the New York Stock Exchange NYSE is also planning to expand its weekly trading hours to 22 hours and has received provisional approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission SEC, but additional approvals are required, such as for updating market data sources.

If Nasdaq’s proposal is approved, it will become the first major stock exchange in the world to offer nearly 24-hour trading services.

Currently, many exchanges such as the NYSE, London Stock Exchange, and Euronext only offer trading during the day, but Nasdaq Chairman Tal Cohen has indicated an intention to start 24-hour trading from 2026.

Furthermore, some securities companies have introduced after-hours and nighttime stock trading services. For example, Robinhood offers 24-hour trading from 8:00 p.m. on Sunday to 8:00 p.m. on Friday.

Furthermore, companies such as Interactive Brokers and Webull are also offering services that enable trading during nighttime and early morning hours.

In this way, regarding the extension of trading hours on stock exchanges, while there are opinions expecting market revitalization and enhanced international competitiveness, there are also strong opposing views from the perspective of concerns such as making trading excessively like a game and investor protection.

It is certain that there will be further discussions between regulatory authorities and stakeholders regarding the management of trading hours in the future.