DTCC's NSCC goes live with 24x5 clearing for US stocks

Wall Street's back-end goes near around the clock

@The_DTCC's National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) has officially gone live with 24x5 clearing for US equities. The clearinghouse now operates continuously from Sunday at 8:00 PM ET through to Friday at 8:00 PM ET, a significant departure from the standard daytime-only schedule that has defined US market infrastructure for decades.

The move is the culmination of a two-phase rollout. NSCC implemented phase one of the extended hours schedule in September 2024, enabling market centers and trading platforms to submit trades at 1:30 AM ET, roughly 2.5 hours earlier than before. Phase two, now live, completes the picture. Testing was conducted to ensure firms could process trades seamlessly during overnight sessions, maintain robust risk controls, and support resiliency ahead of the national exchanges' broader adoption of 24x5 trading.

Extending clearing hours is designed to maximize liquidity and reduce counterparty risk, as NSCC can now apply its central counterparty guarantee to overnight activity across different time zones for global participants. That is a critical step: without a clearinghouse backing overnight trades, exchanges cannot safely expand to near-continuous trading hours. Demand from investors in Asia and Europe has been a key driver of the push toward longer hours.

Exchanges to follow over the coming months

The NSCC going live is a prerequisite, not the finish line. The Securities Information Processors (SIPs), which deliver the consolidated tape and official best bid and offer, must also be upgraded to run overnight, with that upgrade targeted for December 2026. Until the SIPs are live, there is no consolidated tape after hours.

Firms anticipate a steady increase in overnight volumes over the next three years, with 63% of survey respondents predicting volume increases by 2026 and 74% expecting changes by 2028. For now, the infrastructure groundwork is in place. The broader rollout of full overnight trading on major national exchanges is expected to follow over the next year, pending remaining regulatory approvals.

Sources:
Markets Media: DTCC's NSCC to Extend Clearing to Support Trading
Federal Register: NSCC Proposed Rule Change for Extended Trading Hours
FactSet Insight: 24/5 Trading, What It Is and Why It's Coming