Global Stock Market Hours Reference Guide

Many major exchanges — particularly in the United States — offer extended trading sessions outside of regular hours. Pre-market trading on US exchanges typically begins at 4:00 AM Eastern Time and runs until the regular session opens at 9:30 AM. After-hours trading begins at 4:00 PM, when the regular session closes, and continues until approximately 8:00 PM Eastern Time.

These extended sessions operate on electronic communication networks (ECNs) rather than the exchange's central order book. As a result, liquidity is significantly thinner than during regular hours. Bid-ask spreads are wider, and a single large order can move prices meaningfully. Trading during extended hours is generally more appropriate for experienced participants who understand the additional risks. Major news events — particularly earnings releases from large-cap companies — often occur outside of regular hours, which can create sharp price movements that are sometimes reversed when the main session opens and broader market participants can respond.

Each row in the reference table above lists a major stock exchange with its regular trading hours expressed in three time formats: local time (the exchange's own timezone), Eastern Time (ET, the benchmark for US markets), and UTC (the universal reference used by financial professionals worldwide). Using UTC removes ambiguity when converting between regions, since it does not shift for daylight saving time.

Note that the ET and UTC columns reflect standard time offsets — that is, the hours shown assume neither the US nor the relevant country is observing summer/daylight saving time. In practice, the US shifts clocks forward by one hour in spring and back in autumn, which moves the ET equivalent of all non-US sessions by ±1 hour during those transition periods. The live cards above account for daylight saving time automatically.

For exchanges with a lunch break — notably Tokyo (TSE), Hong Kong (HKEX), and Shanghai (SSE) — trading is suspended for one to two hours in the middle of the day local time. These breaks are shown in the notes column of the table. During these windows, the exchange is technically closed even though it is in the middle of its scheduled trading day.