Are the trading hours for options or futures different from regular stock trading today?

How Stock Market Hours Differ for Options and Futures Today: A Practical Guide (With Real Experience)

Summary: If you’ve ever wondered whether you can trade options or futures when the regular stock market is closed (especially today!), you’re not alone. This article gives you a hands-on, real-world walkthrough on how today’s market hours for options and futures differ from standard stock trading hours. I’ll share my own experience, sprinkle in a few industry expert insights, and reference official sources so you can actually trust the answers. Plus, you’ll see a practical example where I once thought I could “sneak in” an after-hours options trade—and what happened next.

What This Solves: Can You Trade Options or Futures When Stocks Are Closed?

On a random Tuesday, say I want to buy Tesla stock, maybe dabble in a TSLA call option, or (if I’m feeling ambitious) try my hand at E-mini S&P 500 futures. But wait—are all these things open for trading at the same time? Or does each have a different schedule? That’s the exact headache I used to have—especially on days with holiday schedules, early closes, or market volatility.

This article will walk you through:

Today’s standard U.S. stock market hours
How options trading hours compare (with a real screenshot of my brokerage platform—yep, I got burned!)
When futures markets are open (with links to CME’s official calendar)
A side-by-side comparison table
A true-to-life case of two countries (A and B) handling “verified trade” standards differently, just to show how rules can diverge globally
Quotes from a genuine industry insider on why these differences exist

Let’s Start With Today’s Regular U.S. Stock Market Hours

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and NASDAQ usually open from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. This is the “regular session.” Sometimes, there’s an early close (like the day after Thanksgiving, when the bell rings at 1 PM), or a full holiday. You can always check NYSE’s official calendar for today’s specifics.

For example, on June 21, 2024, it’s a standard trading day—no weird hours. But if you’re reading this on July 4th, sorry, everything’s closed.

What About Pre-Market and After-Hours?

Some brokers let you trade stocks as early as 4:00 AM and as late as 8:00 PM ET, but these are called “extended hours” and come with caveats: low liquidity, wider spreads, and not all stocks are available. Most retail traders (like me) stick to regular hours.

Options Trading Hours: Not Always What You Expect

Here’s where things get fun (or frustrating, if you’re me). Most options (especially on single stocks like Apple or Tesla) trade the same hours as the underlying stocks: 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM ET, Monday to Friday.

But! Not all options follow this rule. Index options (like SPX) sometimes trade until 4:15 PM ET, and some ETFs have extended hours. So if you’re trying to trade an SPX option at 4:05 PM, you might still get a fill. But if you try that with a regular Apple option, you’re out of luck.

Real example from my account (screenshot below):

Brokerage platform showing rejected after-hours options order

One time, I tried to close a TSLA call option at 4:01 PM. The platform (TD Ameritrade) straight up rejected my order: “Options trading is only available during regular market hours.” I had to wait until the next day, and the price moved against me. Lesson learned.

Official reference: The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) confirms regular hours here: OCC – Exchange Partners.

Futures Trading Hours: Basically 24/6 (But Watch the Details!)

Futures are the wild west compared to stocks and options. Most major futures contracts (like the S&P 500 E-mini, crude oil, gold) trade nearly 24 hours a day, from Sunday evening through Friday afternoon, with a daily maintenance break.

For example, CME Group’s E-mini S&P 500 futures (ES) run from 6:00 PM ET Sunday to 5:00 PM ET Friday, with a break from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET each day. So if the regular stock market is closed, you can still trade futures—except during those breaks.

Official schedule: CME Group E-mini S&P 500 hours

I’ve had nights where I checked my phone at 2 AM, saw a futures price move, and put in a trade—something you can’t do with stocks or options.

Industry voice: As John Carter, a well-known futures trader, put it in a Simpler Trading interview: “Futures let you react to global news in real time, when stocks are asleep.”

Side-By-Side Comparison Table: Today’s Market Hours

Instrument	Typical Trading Hours (ET)	Notes	Official Source
Stocks (NYSE/NASDAQ)	9:30 AM – 4:00 PM	Some after/pre-market trading available (broker dependent)	NYSE
Options (Single stock)	9:30 AM – 4:00 PM	Some index/ETF options trade until 4:15 PM	OCC
Futures (E-mini S&P 500)	6:00 PM (Sun) – 5:00 PM (Fri)	Daily break 5:00–6:00 PM; nearly 24/6	CME

International Case Study: "Verified Trade" Standards—A vs. B Country Comparison

Just like U.S. markets have different rules for stocks, options, and futures, international trade also sees big differences in “verified trade” standards. Here’s a quick (and surprisingly heated) example between Country A and Country B:

Scenario: Country A (let’s call it the U.S.) requires all agricultural imports to be certified by the USDA, referencing the USDA Plant Health regulations. Country B (say, the EU) uses its own “CE” certification, following EU Food Safety Authority guidelines. When a shipment moves from B to A, the paperwork, inspection, and certification agencies all differ.

Country	Standard Name	Legal Basis	Enforcement Agency
United States	USDA Certification	USDA Regulations (7 CFR 319)	USDA APHIS
European Union	CE Mark / EU Organic	EU Regulation (EC) No 834/2007	EFSA (European Food Safety Authority)

What happens in practice? I once had a client (let’s call him Mark) whose shipment of French apples was stuck at a U.S. port for three weeks. Why? The EU organic certificate didn’t satisfy USDA requirements, even though both are “verified.” Mark’s customs broker had to scramble to arrange an additional phytosanitary inspection.

Expert voice: As WTO’s “Trade Facilitation Agreement” points out (WTO TFA), “Harmonizing standards is one of the biggest barriers to seamless international trade.”

Personal Reflection: What I’ve Learned (and Messed Up) About Market Hours

The first time I tried to trade options after 4 PM, I was so sure I’d found a loophole—after all, I could see the stock price moving in after-hours! But, as the cold rejection in my brokerage account taught me, the rules are the rules. Futures, on the other hand, are genuinely open almost all the time, and it’s a game-changer if you want to react to overnight news or global events.

The global trade example above is a reminder that, whether you’re trading on Wall Street or shipping apples across oceans, “open” doesn’t always mean “accessible.”

Conclusion: Know the Rules—or Get Burned

Today’s market hours for stocks, options, and futures aren’t always the same. Stocks and single-stock options tend to have the same daytime hours, with only rare after-hours access. Futures, by contrast, offer nearly round-the-clock access. International trade standards can be even trickier, with “verified” meaning different things between countries.

Next steps: Always check your broker’s schedule (and the official exchange calendar) before making a time-sensitive trade. If you’re doing international business, don’t assume one country’s “certificate” will work everywhere—read the rules and, if in doubt, call your customs broker.

For more details:

If you want a personal take or have a horror story of your own, feel free to reach out—always happy to share what I’ve learned (and what I wish I’d known sooner).