Cboe Seeks Extended Hours for Select Equity Options

Cboe is pushing to expand the trading day for a limited set of multi-listed equity options, and the SEC has published the amended proposal for comment. Under Amendment No. 1, Cboe would open a Global Trading Hours session for designated classes from 7:30 a.m. to 9:25 a.m. ET and add a short Curb session from 4:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. ET.

The exchange said the initial rollout would be capped at 100 option classes. To qualify, a class would need a six-month average daily volume of at least 150,000 contracts, while the underlying stock would need at least a $50 billion market capitalization and average daily share volume of 10 million. Cboe’s stated case is simple: underlying equities already trade outside regular hours, while the related listed options generally do not.

That gap matters when earnings, guidance changes, macro releases, or geopolitical headlines hit before the open or just after the bell. The proposal is aimed at giving traders a regulated listed-options venue during those windows rather than forcing them to wait for the main session.

Why it matters

If approved, this would give active traders and hedgers a more direct way to respond to overnight and post-close price moves in large-cap names. It could be especially relevant for traders using options to hedge stock positions around earnings or major company news.

What to watch next

The biggest open questions are liquidity and spreads. More hours do not automatically mean better execution. Watch whether the SEC is comfortable with Cboe’s controlled 100-class rollout and whether market makers show up with enough depth to make the extra session genuinely usable.