Cboe Global Markets has extended the trading session on its options exchange to almost 24 hours a day for certain index options as a means for investors to better cope with market volatility.
The exchange will extend its global trading hours for S&P 500 index options (SPX) and Cboe volatility index (VIX) options, in the fourth quarter of this year subject to a regulatory review.
SPX and VIX options currently trade from 3.00am ET to 9.15 am ET, but under the new timeline, trading will commence at 8:15 pm ET and run until 9:15 am ET the following morning. The extended session will not impact regular trading hours on the Cboe Options Exchange trading floor in Chicago.
Cboe said the extended trading hours are aimed at growing demand from investors for more efficient risk management during market volatility. It will offer investors the ability to adjust their SPX and VIX options positions at any time to react to global macroeconomic events.
“The S&P 500 and VIX Indices are widely tracked globally, with Cboe’s SPX and VIX options used by investors both domestically and internationally looking to trade, hedge or gain exposure to the broad US market and global equity volatility,” added Arianne Criqui, senior vice president, head of derivatives and global client services at Cboe Global Markets.
“As financial markets around the world become more interconnected, it is crucial that market participants have the ability to trade products that meet their investing objectives when and how they need, no matter the time of day.”
Cboe said the extended trading hours will also complement its recently announced Asia Pacific expansion. At the end of March, the exchange operator confirmed its plans to acquire trading venue operator Chi-X Asia Pacific from JC Flowers as a means of entering the Australia and Japan markets.