Which Stocks Can Be Traded in the Overnight Session?

Under Nasdaq's rules, every NMS stock is eligible to trade in its Night Session, which the SEC approved on April 10, 2026 and which is scheduled to start on December 6, 2026, subject to operational readiness. In practice that covers the exchange-listed stocks most traders think of, plus exchange-traded products Nasdaq designates for the session, but not stocks that trade only over the counter. Two further filters decide whether a particular ticker can actually trade on a given night: a trading halt, and your broker's own overnight list.

Which stocks are eligible for the overnight session?

Nasdaq's approved plan makes all NMS stocks eligible for the overnight session. The SEC's approval order for Nasdaq 23/5 trading says Nasdaq will trade NMS stocks and exchange traded products 23 hours a day, five days a week, and that "All NMS Stocks would be eligible to trade during the proposed Night Session," which runs from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. ET. The order does not attach a separate symbol list to that statement for stocks.

The December 6 start covers one exchange's rules, not the whole market. NYSE Arca plans its own Overnight Session for the same start date, and its Extended-Hours Trading FAQ describes sessions, order handling, and trade dates without publishing a list or criteria of eligible securities. Other exchanges have filed their own rules, so a ticker that is open on one venue is not automatically open on another. This article covers what the Nasdaq order states, and it is the overview in hi2morrow's guide to what changes when US stocks trade 23 hours a day that places that rule inside the wider launch.

What is an NMS stock, and are OTC stocks included?

An NMS stock is any security other than an option for which trade reports are collected under an effective national market system transaction reporting plan. That definition comes from Regulation NMS Rule 600(b), and it is the term the Nasdaq order uses. Stocks and ETFs listed on the national securities exchanges report to the consolidated tape and therefore qualify.

Over-the-counter stocks follow from the same definition. A stock with no such reporting plan is not an NMS stock by definition, so Nasdaq's approval of "all NMS stocks" does not extend to a stock that trades only over the counter. That conclusion is a reading of the definition rather than a statement from the exchange, and the practical test is simple: if a stock trades only over the counter, do not expect it to appear in an exchange overnight session.

Can ETFs trade overnight?

Some can, but the ETF answer is less settled than the stock answer. Nasdaq already has rules for trading exchange-traded products in its pre-market and post-market hours, and the approved plan extends that framework to the Night Session. For Exchange Traded Fund Shares, Portfolio Depositary Receipts, and Index Fund Shares listed on Nasdaq, the amended rules say Nasdaq "may designate" them for the Night Session, which leaves the choice with the exchange.

The approval order does not name the ETFs Nasdaq will designate, and no criteria appear in it or in the NYSE FAQ. Until the exchanges publish lists or your broker shows its own, treat an ETF's overnight status as something to confirm rather than assume. Check the exchange's announcements for the fund's listing venue, then check whether the order ticket at your broker offers an overnight option for that ticker. If the ticket does not, the ticker is not available to you that night, whatever the exchange's rules allow.

Which stocks are halted overnight?

An eligible stock can still be unavailable on a given night because it is halted. Under Nasdaq's rules, if the stock's primary listing market has declared a halt, Nasdaq halts it too, whatever the session. The CTA's Extended Trading Hours FAQ adds that a regulatory halt not yet lifted at the end of one session is carried into the next, with its status republished at 8:55 p.m. ET. Other kinds of halt are not carried over.

Corporate actions create a second, scheduled kind of absence. Nasdaq and NYSE Arca have filed rules under which a stock they list that faces a split, a symbol change, a spin-off, a very large dividend, or a similar event is halted before 9 p.m. ET on the evening before the change takes effect and reopens at 8 a.m. ET. The list and timing are covered in hi2morrow's article on whether stock splits and dividends halt overnight trading.

Why can my broker's overnight list be shorter than the exchange's?

Exchange eligibility is a different thing from broker availability. An exchange decides which securities it will trade overnight; your broker decides which of those it will let you send, and whether its own routing, clearing firm, and risk controls support the ticker at all. A broker can leave out a stock the exchange accepts, and an order for it will be rejected even though the market is open.

The reasons are mostly operational: a broker may start with a limited set of names, route only to certain venues, or rely on a clearing firm that has to be set up for overnight activity. That is the subject of hi2morrow's piece on why you may not be able to trade stocks overnight at your broker. The exchange rules set the ceiling of what is possible, and the broker's list sets what you can reach.

Can you trade the stock before December 6?

Production symbols do not trade in the exchanges' overnight sessions before then, according to the CTA's FAQ, which describes a Pre-Launch period from November 8 to December 5, 2026, in which the extended session runs in production for test symbols only. The industry-wide go-live, when production symbols become active, is December 6, 2026. The schedule is the current plan and could change if operational readiness slips.

How the filters work for ABC and XYZ

Take ABC, a Nasdaq-listed stock, and XYZ, an over-the-counter stock with no transaction reporting plan. At 10 p.m. ET on Monday, December 7, 2026, ABC is an NMS stock and is eligible for Nasdaq's Night Session through a limit order, while XYZ is not an NMS stock and falls outside Nasdaq's approval.

Two barriers can still stop ABC. Suppose its 2-for-1 split takes effect on Tuesday, December 8. Under the corporate action halt rules, ABC would be halted before 9 p.m. on Monday and would not trade that night at all; the first chance to trade it would be the 8 a.m. reopening on Tuesday. Suppose instead there is no corporate action, but the trader's broker has not added ABC to its overnight list. The order is rejected even though the exchange is open and ABC is eligible.

Alexander Styopin's professional view: the headline "all stocks trade overnight" reads like a promise, but it is a statement about exchange eligibility, and the useful question for a trader is whether a specific order can reach the book tonight. Before relying on an overnight exit or entry, confirm three things for that ticker: that it is an exchange-listed NMS stock or a designated ETP, that no halt or corporate action covers the evening, and that your broker's ticket accepts it. Liquidity is the fourth issue, and it will be thinner in many names than during the day.

Educational material only. Not investment or legal advice. Order handling, margin, and settlement rules can vary by exchange, broker, account type, and jurisdiction, and the launch schedule described here may change.

Author: Alexander Styopin, hi2morrow analyst and economist with 25 years of experience in the US stock market