FINRA Snapshot Shows Extended-Hours and Options Trading Growth

FINRA published its 2026 Industry Snapshot on 1 June, highlighting continued changes in U.S. broker-dealer activity, market participation and trading behaviour.

The release said average daily dollar volume in exchange-listed U.S. stocks reached $828 billion in 2025, up more than one third from 2022. FINRA also said extended-hours trading represented about one fifth of total trading activity, while listed options average daily transactions reached 8.4 million in 2025, up from 5.6 million in 2023.

The options detail is especially relevant for active traders: FINRA said zero-days-to-expiration contracts accounted for about 30% of all options transactions in 2025. That confirms that short-dated options are no longer a niche workflow for many platforms and supervision teams.

Why it matters

The snapshot helps explain why brokers keep expanding overnight access, options tools and risk controls. More trading outside the traditional cash equity session means clients need clearer order handling, liquidity warnings and support coverage when spreads can be thinner.

Growth in listed options and same-day expiries also raises the bar for margin controls, options approval processes, education and real-time risk monitoring. Platform outages or stale risk checks can become more damaging when activity clusters in fast-moving, short-duration contracts.

What to watch next

Watch whether FINRA uses the same trends in future examinations, especially around extended-hours disclosures, options supervision, concentrated retail activity and broker controls for zero-days-to-expiration strategies.