The FIX Trading Community, the industry association that manages the world’s trading language, the FIX Protocol, has launched a working group to examine issues and opportunities around 24-hour trading of US equities.  

Several alternative trading systems (ATS) have opened to offer overnight access to US markets. While overnight volume is currently low at around 0.1% of total US market volume, interest from both retail and institutional investors is growing, with overnight trading expected to reach 1-10% of total volume by 2028¹. 

FIX Executive Director Jim Kaye said the FIX working group will explore the development of US equity trading outside regular hours; the role of broker-dealers and ATS, and what expanded access means for global investors. 

“We’ve seen growing interest in 24-hour trading for some time, but we’re at a tipping point now,” he said. “Exchanges including NYSE, CBOE and NASDAQ, as well as the Securities Information Processors (SIPs – who provide the US consolidated tape) and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) have all recently announced plans to extend their hours to offer 24/5 trading, so this is the right time to rally the industry to ensure we’re ready for the next stage of overnight trading,” he said.  

The group will look at solutions for the challenges that face 24-hour trading, which include lower liquidity and wider spreads overnight; how regulatory frameworks apply outside US trading hours; and how best to incorporate 24-hour capabilities within existing institutional workflows. 

Firms interested in joining the working group can express their interest by contacting FIX at fix@fixtrading.org. 

The FIX Trading Community is an independent global community where capital markets firms come together to solve common issues and shape the evolution of capital markets. FIX groups in over 60 countries are working on a range of global issues including digital assets; reference data; carbon trading; AI; algo trading; FICC and ETFs, while country and regional committees work together to manage local regulation and market structure matters. 

Source: FIX