What Time Does Option Trading Start and End?
Navigate options trading with confidence. Learn the precise market hours, including daily sessions, limited exceptions, and holiday closures.
Options trading involves contracts that grant the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset at a specified price within a set timeframe. Understanding the specific hours during which these contracts can be bought and sold is fundamental for participants in financial markets. Market hours dictate when these financial instruments are active, a crucial consideration for traders.
Standard Option Trading Hours
The typical operating hours for options markets in the U.S. align closely with the broader stock market, with options on major U.S. exchanges, such as Cboe, Nasdaq, and NYSE Arca, generally trade from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM Eastern Time. This standard window applies Monday through Friday, mirroring the regular session for U.S. equities. The majority of options are tied to underlying stocks, and their trading availability is directly linked to the regular hours of these stock markets. This 6.5-hour period is when the market experiences its highest liquidity and typically offers the tightest bid-ask spreads. Trading during this core session helps ensure efficient price discovery and execution for most options transactions.
Trading Beyond Standard Hours
Unlike individual stocks, which often have active pre-market and after-hours trading sessions, options generally do not have significant extended trading periods, with most trading confined to regular market hours due to factors such as liquidity, complexity in pricing, and the nature of their expiration. The absence of robust extended-hours trading for most options means that attempting to place orders outside the standard window is often not possible or results in unexecuted trades. However, some highly liquid index options, such as those on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX), are exceptions and may offer limited extended trading hours. For example, certain Cboe index options can trade from 8:15 PM to 9:15 AM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, in a global trading hours session. Extended hours for these specific index options involve lower liquidity and potentially wider bid-ask spreads compared to regular hours.
Market Holidays and Trading Schedule Changes
U.S. options markets observe several market holidays throughout the year, during which trading is closed. Common holidays include New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth National Independence Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. In addition to full closures, exchanges may have early closures on certain days, such as the day before Independence Day, the day after Thanksgiving, or the day before Christmas. On these early close days, trading typically concludes at 1:00 PM or 1:15 PM Eastern Time. Market participants should consult the official calendars published by exchanges like NYSE and Nasdaq for definitive schedules, as these can be subject to change.