Cboe Global Markets Inc. launched pre-market trading in single-stock options on Monday, marking a significant shift toward extended trading hours. Over 16,000 lots were traded in the initial session running from 7:30 a.m. to 9:25 a.m., according to Cboe data. The most actively traded contracts featured the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF and the iShares Russell 2000 ETF, followed by Tesla Inc. shares.
These volumes were tiny compared to the roughly 71 million contracts that typically trade in the US options market each day. Industry analysts noted the move is part of a broader trend to extend trading hours across markets, with several exchanges preparing to allow nearly 24-hour stock trading. Patrick Moley, a senior research analyst at Piper Sandler, commented that the early session is not expected to be "needle moving" initially but represents a step toward after-hours trading in a market still dominated by the standard 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. session.
Henry Schwartz, Cboe's vice president of market intelligence, indicated the exchange is keen to compare early session volumes and execution against normal trading day metrics.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing