Volumes could potentially increase at the end of day in equities markets as The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), the global standard-setter for the securities sector, has issued a consultation on the changes in volume during the trading day.

Sam Stevens, head of business analytics at U.S. exchange IEX, told Markets Media that the end of day into the close has been a focus for clients and some of the heaviest volumes have been at that time for a while. He said: “It feels like there is a trend towards potentially even more volume, and some clients are building algo strategies that target the close.”

More volume tends to migrate from off-exchange onto an exchange towards the end of the day, according to Stevens. He argued that IEX is a beneficiary of some of that movement as it can provide a high-quality dark trading experience, but on an exchange.

IEX said in a blog that off-exchange trading, which is now approximately half of total market volume, falls off considerably in the final minutes as urgency increases and market participants do not want to continue to wait for liquidity in dark pools, or ATSs [alternative trading systems]. In displayed trading, spreads are tightest in the final minutes of the day and queues lengthen, giving firms more options of where to source displayed liquidity than at any other time of day.

Stevens said: “IEX is in a interesting place as an exchange that was formerly an ATS. We are in this unique position where we are close to a 50/50 mix of lit and dark.”

IEX also sees an increase in the fill rates of orders at the end of the day. Stevens added that on IEX it is often a midpoint order matching with another midpoint order, which is fundamentally different from lit trading.

In a blog IEX said that it ranks third for volume in the final 10 minutes of the day (excluding the closing print), handling 10% of exchange volume in single stocks priced $1 and above. IEX argued that this more focused view represents institutional market share.

“People look to IEX at the end of the day because we represent a good combination of size, amount of available liquidity and the quality of that liquidity,” added Stevens. “I think this combination of size and quality is really where we stand out.”

IEX argued in the blog that it has two major advantages for displayed liquidity takers: a less expensive fee to remove displayed liquidity than other maker takers and substantial hidden liquidity intraspread, increasing the opportunity for price improvement.

IOSCO consultation

On 21 May 2026 IOSCO published a consultation regarding Regulatory Considerations and Good Practices on the Evolution of Market Liquidity during the Trading Day. The securities trading standards setter said that as equity market structures continue to evolve, there is a growing concentration of trading activities at the close in many jurisdictions.

The report found that the value traded at closing auctions generally increased, with equity market liquidity increasingly concentrating at the end of the day between 2020 and 2025. In addition, in many jurisdictions there is an upward trend in mechanisms offering investors execution at the closing price without routing trading through the closing auction.

“While deeper closing auctions may support price discovery and efficiency, they may also introduce risks, including reduced liquidity during continuous trading, increased susceptibility to market manipulation, heightened volatility around the close, and operational and resilience challenges for trading venues,” added IOSCO.

In particular, high-liquidity trading periods and intra-day liquidity variation may pose potential challenges to trading venues’ operational resilience, cybersecurity, and ability to ensure fair and orderly market conditions.

IOSCO proposed a set of good practices intended to assist regulators and trading venues in preserving fair, orderly and resilient equity markets as trading patterns evolve.