Cboe Wins SEC Approval for Extended-Hours Single-Stock Options

Cboe Global Markets just got the SEC sign-off to push single-stock options trading outside of regular U.S. hours. The approval covers a select group of multi-listed equity options and pushes the derivatives giant closer to a round-the-clock trading model it has been building for years.

What was approved

The SEC has approved Cboe’s filing to begin offering extended trading hours for select multi-listed equity options, with Cboe Options Exchange (C1) planning to begin offering them on July 13, 2026, subject to SEC approval of a related rule filing.

The new pre-market session will run from 7:30 a.m. ET to 9:25 a.m. ET and a post-market session from 4:00 p.m. ET to 4:15 p.m. ET, Monday to Friday, covering some of the most actively traded and liquid symbols.

Which names qualify

Cboe anticipates approximately 20 names — including all the Magnificent 7 stocks such as Nvidia, Tesla, and Apple, as well as other popular single-stock names like Palantir, Broadcom and AMD — to be available for trading at launch.

To be eligible, equity options must for the preceding six months have an average daily volume of 150,000 contracts or higher, an underlying equity market capitalization of $50 billion or higher, and an underlying equity average daily trading volume of 10 million shares or higher. The eligible list will be updated semi-annually.

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Why it matters for traders

The practical case for extending single-stock options hours centers on the timing of market-moving information, since earnings releases, guidance updates, and major economic data points frequently land outside of the standard 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET window, leaving options holders unable to act until the next regular session.

The post-market session in particular gives investors a 15-minute window after the close to respond to after-hours developments, which Cboe said could help reduce contra-exercise risk.

The bigger picture at Cboe

GTH and Curb volumes reached record levels in the first quarter of 2026, up 32% compared to the first quarter of 2025, driven in part by demand from customers in the Asia-Pacific region.

Cboe also plans to launch 23×5 U.S. equities trading on its Cboe EDGX Equities Exchange (EDGX) in December, pending regulatory approval and industry readiness. For more market structure coverage, see other news.

Options market and stocks to watch

Watch for shifts in after-hours pricing and gamma exposure on the names most likely to be in the launch group:

CBOE: watch for revenue tailwinds if extended-hours options volumes ramp the way GTH index volumes did.

NVDA, TSLA, AAPL: watch for tighter alignment between after-hours stock moves on earnings or headlines and the options tape.

PLTR, AVGO, AMD: watch for changes in implied vol behavior around the pre-market and 15-minute post-close windows.

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