Investment and trading platform eToro has launched extended hours stock trading for users, designed to enable investors on the platform to buy and sell a selection of 30 US stocks outside normal trading hours.
The firm writes that the new functionality, initially covering pre-market, gives investors the opportunity to access the market during more convenient hours for them, and take advantage of out of hours trading events such as earnings reports or macro events.
Users will be able to access extended hours stocks through a separate instrument to in-hours investing, and will be available as a CFD. The new instruments will give investors an extra three hours of time to invest each day to access pre-market trading, with post-market functionality coming soon. Some 10 stocks will be available initially at launch: Tesla, Amazon, Apple, Nio, Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, Nvidia, GameStop and Netflix
Dan Moczulski, UK Managing Director of eToro, says: “With US companies releasing results and news outside market hours, there can often be significant price movement before the opening bell. Pre-market trading allows retail investors to get on the front foot by either getting in early or protecting themselves against market gaps via hedging. For many investors, accessing the US market is incredibly important, so this is an effort to provide US market investing in more sociable investing hours.
“Ultimately, this is great news for eToro users. The 24/7 crypto markets have shown us that more access encourages people to engage with markets, so with this offering, eToro clients will be able to make investments when it suits them, instead of waiting for markets to catch up.”
For eToro investors, the firm writes that the key benefits of extended hours trading include:
Real-time reaction: to news events and data prints, without market schedule restrictions.
Global markets reaction: as earlier-starting markets set the agenda for the rest of the world.
Increased flexibility: for those who want to make trades around their schedules.
Reducing risk: possible for investors to get ahead of the main market and its reaction, thereby reducing out-of-hours gap risks.
Regular hours preparation: enabling investors to be ready for the opening bell.
Users on the eToro platform will be able to find stocks under the .EXT ticker for the given stock. All extended hours instruments are CFDs and there will be no cost difference in fee terms between after and normal hours traded instruments. Spreads may differ however thanks to trading liquidity variations.
Moczulski concludes: “This launch is yet another example of eToro providing clients with the tools to meet their investing needs – from beginners to more sophisticated traders. By further opening up markets, more people will now have access to an offering which was previously limited to few.”
