The London Stock Exchange has confirmed its plans to launch an overnight trading venue, according to a report from the Financial Times. The venue is scheduled to become operational in the first half of 2027 and will operate separately from the main market of the London Stock Exchange.
The main exchange will maintain its standard operating hours of 8am to 4.30pm. The new venue will operate from 5pm to 7.50am, with a 30-minute break between 6.30pm and 7pm for end-of-day processing. When it launches, it will offer exchange-traded products such as funds that track the UK and US markets, rather than individual stocks.
CEO of the London Stock Exchange, Julia Huggett He told FT The exchange has “always been a facilitator of domestic and global flow,” citing demand from retail investors around the world, especially in Asia, to trade across the London time zone to access UK and global assets.
Read more: Overnight trading remains niche, but access continues to expand
Withdraw cryptocurrencies around the clock
The move comes as cryptocurrency platforms such as Coinbase and Kraken expand to include around-the-clock stock trading, attracting young retail investors accustomed to trading on their own schedule. Finance Magnates previously reported on this Explore LSEG for 24-hour trading Similar moves were followed by Nasdaq, NYSE and Cboe Global Markets in the US, all of which pursued extended hours trading subject to regulatory approval, with the SEC already clearing long hours trading on the 24X National Exchange.
Finance Magnates also reported that stock trading accounted for just 2.7% of LSEG’s total revenue in the first quarter of last year, with most of the income coming from selling financial statements to banks and brokers. The push coincides with a prolonged drought in UK listings. London raised £74.7 million from new listings in the first quarter of last year, compared to £8.9 billion in the US.
eToro’s vice president of development strategy, Elad Lavy, told the Financial Times that retail clients want “24/5, and soon 24/7“, adding that cryptocurrencies have shaped expectations for immediate reaction to breaking news.
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Institutional investors remain lukewarm
The Financial Times reported that institutional investors were more ambivalent than retail traders. The World Federation of Exchanges said last year that institutional investors abroad want expanded access “to a lesser degree” than retail investors in the Asia-Pacific region, adding that expanded trading is “not appropriate or desirable in all contexts.” The European Exchange Federation said it remains to be seen whether such models are sustainable in the long term.
Huggett told the Financial Times that retail demand is driving the current movement, but she expects institutional interest to grow over time. The London Stock Exchange plans to eventually expand trading to include more than 2,600 products traded on the exchange. Starting with exchange-traded products avoids the timing and regulatory complexities associated with individual stocks, and AI-based trading tools will be integrated into the new space, Simon McQuaid-Mason, head of new products and equity market structure at the LSE, told the Financial Times.
This article was written by Arnab Shomi at www.financemagnates.com.
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