London Stock Exchange to launch overnight trading venue LSE 24 Proactive uses images sourced from Shutterstock
The London Stock Exchange has unveiled plans for a new near-continuous trading venue, joining a global race among exchanges to extend the trading day.
The venue, LSE 24, will run from Monday to Friday and is designed to support digital, algorithmic and so-called agentic trading, where AI agents execute orders.
It will operate from 17:00 to 07:50, with a 30-minute pause each evening for end-of-day processing.
The exchange’s Main Market will continue to trade during its existing hours of 08:00 to 16:30.
LSE 24 will be available for client testing by the end of 2026, with exchange-traded products the first asset class to launch in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approval.
The venue is intended to expand into equities as a next step.
The move mirrors a broader shift among global exchanges towards round-the-clock trading, driven by international demand and the growth of digital platforms.
In the United States, the New York Stock Exchange has won preliminary regulatory approval for a 22-hour trading day.
Nasdaq has gone further, filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late last year for a 23-hour session across five days, with a launch targeted for the second half of 2026.
Chicago-based Cboe Global Markets is pursuing similar plans.
The push reflects surging overseas appetite for equities, with foreign investors holding roughly $17 trillion of US stocks.
Not everyone is convinced, with some on Wall Street warning that overnight trading can be thinly traded and potentially destabilising.
Julia Hoggett, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, said the launch marked an important step in the evolution of its markets, offering clients greater flexibility beyond traditional hours.
She said the venue would support deeper liquidity and broader participation, reinforcing London’s position as a leading global financial centre.
The venue will draw on LSEG’s digital markets infrastructure, including its planned Digital Securities Depository.