After-Hours Trading
The buying and selling of securities outside of standard exchange hours, typically between 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM ET for US markets.
What is After-Hours Trading?
After-hours trading refers to the execution of stock trades after the major US exchanges — NYSE and Nasdaq — close at 4:00 PM Eastern Time. Electronic communication networks (ECNs) facilitate after-hours trading, typically from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM ET, though pre-market trading also occurs from around 4:00 AM to 9:30 AM ET. After-hours sessions are characterized by significantly lower trading volume, wider bid-ask spreads, reduced liquidity, and greater price volatility than regular-hours trading. Earnings reports, economic data releases, and major news events frequently occur outside regular hours, causing sharp after-hours price movements that may or may not persist when the regular session opens.
Example
When Apple reported fiscal Q1 2024 earnings after the 4:00 PM ET market close, its shares moved more than 3% in after-hours trading within minutes of the release — on a fraction of the normal daily volume. Because only a small number of participants were active and spreads were wide, the price discovery during that session was less reliable than prices formed during regular market hours the following morning.