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NYSE American, the options exchange arm of Intercontinental Exchange, filed a proposed rule change with the SEC on June 5 to extend trading hours for a curated set of highly liquid equity options. If approved, it would add both an early morning session and a brief post-close window to the standard trading day.
The move follows Cboe’s approval for a nearly identical structure just eight days earlier, signaling that the options world is quietly catching up to the extended-hours access that equity traders have enjoyed for years.
What the proposal actually looks like
NYSE American is asking to create two new trading windows. The first, dubbed the Early Trading Session, would run from 7:30 a.m. to 9:25 a.m. ET, giving traders a two-hour runway before the regular session kicks off at 9:30 a.m. The second, a Late Trading Session, would cover 4:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. ET, tacking on a brief 15-minute extension after the close.
Not every option would qualify. The exchange is limiting eligibility to roughly 100 of the most heavily traded, multi-listed equity options classes. To make the cut, an option needs to meet two thresholds: an average daily volume of at least 150,000 contracts and an underlying equity with a market capitalization of $50 billion or more.
To keep the list current, NYSE American plans to run biannual reviews of eligible options classes. If a stock’s trading volume dips or its market cap shrinks below the threshold, its options could lose extended-hours eligibility. The exchange also noted that existing rules and market functionalities would remain intact during the new sessions, and that OPRA, the centralized options price reporting system, is already prepared to handle data dissemination during the expanded windows.
Cboe got there first, but not without hiccups
NYSE American isn’t pioneering this concept. Cboe received SEC approval on May 28 for a similar extended trading framework on its own platform, making it the first major options exchange to secure the green light. Cboe had initially targeted a July 13 launch date.
That timeline slipped. The delay stems from required adjustments in clearing support, a reminder that the plumbing behind options markets is considerably more complex than simply flipping a switch. The Options Clearing Corporation, which handles settlement for the entire US listed options market, needs to be fully aligned before any exchange can actually turn on extended sessions.
As of late August, the proposal remains pending SEC approval, with the broader industry still waiting on final implementation support from OCC and participating exchanges.
Why this matters beyond the mechanics
The standard 9:30-to-4:00 trading day for options has long been a friction point. Equity markets already offer pre-market and after-hours sessions, meaning stock prices can move meaningfully before options traders get a chance to adjust their hedges.
An early morning session starting at 7:30 a.m. would give options traders nearly two hours to react to overnight news before regular trading begins. The late session is shorter but still meaningful. A 15-minute post-close window lets traders respond to earnings announcements that drop right at 4:00 p.m.
There are legitimate concerns, though. Thinner liquidity outside core hours can lead to wider bid-ask spreads and more volatile price action, even in the most actively traded names. The 150,000-contract daily volume threshold is designed to mitigate this, but pre-market options trading is still uncharted territory at scale. The clearing infrastructure question also looms large. Cboe’s July delay showed that exchange readiness and clearing readiness are two different things. Until OCC confirms full operational support for extended sessions, approval from the SEC is necessary but not sufficient for actual trading to begin.
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