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Cboe Global Markets has received approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to offer extended trading hours for select multi-listed equity options, with the exchange operator planning to launch the new sessions on 13 July 2026.
The new sessions will include a pre-market window running from 7:30 a.m. ET to 9:25 a.m. ET and a post-market window from 4:00 p.m. ET to 4:15 p.m. ET, Monday to Friday. The launch is subject to SEC approval of a related rule filing.
At launch, Cboe anticipates approximately 20 names will be eligible, including all seven of the so-called Magnificent 7 stocks — Nvidia, Tesla, and Apple among them — as well as other actively traded names such as Palantir, Broadcom, and AMD.
Meaghan Dugan, Head of U.S. Derivatives, Cboe said:
"Today's SEC approval marks an important milestone for the US options industry, as Cboe continues to take the lead in expanding market access to meet growing demand from investors globally. By launching first with a select group of single-name options, we are deliberately taking a measured approach to help ensure market safeguards and investor protections remain in place. As the industry moves toward near-24x5 trading in equities, this development will also help better align options trading — especially in the most high-demand names — with their underlying securities, enabling investors to manage risk and seize opportunities more effectively in today's fast-moving markets."
To qualify for the extended sessions, equity options must meet minimum thresholds calculated over the preceding six months: an average daily volume of at least 150,000 contracts, an underlying equity market capitalisation of at least $50 billion, and an underlying equity average daily trading volume of at least 10 million shares. Cboe expects to update the eligible options class list semi-annually, using data from the periods January to June and July to December.
The exchange is positioning the extended hours as a tool for investors to manage positions around market-moving events that occur outside regular trading windows, such as pre- or post-market company announcements and macroeconomic data releases. The 15-minute post-close session is also intended to help reduce contra-exercise risk following after-market events.
The development builds on Cboe's existing efforts to broaden trading access beyond standard US session hours. Cboe Options Exchange (C1) already offers near 24x5 trading through its Global Trading Hours (GTH) from 8:15 p.m. ET to 9:25 a.m. ET and Curb Trading Hours from 4:15 p.m. ET to 5:00 p.m. ET for proprietary index products including S&P 500 (SPX) Index options, Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) options, Mini S&P 500 (XSP) Index options, and Russell 2000 (RUT) Index options. GTH and Curb volumes reached record levels in the first quarter of 2026, rising 32% compared to the same period in 2025, driven in part by demand from Asia-Pacific customers.
In its US equities business, Cboe currently offers trading from 4 a.m. ET to 8 p.m. ET on two of its four exchanges. The exchange also has plans to launch 23x5 US equities trading on its Cboe EDGX Equities Exchange (EDGX) in December, pending regulatory approval and industry readiness.
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