By Brandon Tepper, SVP & Global Head of Data, Nasdaq
The U.S. equity market has long centered around a fixed window, but that window is widening. Not just because technology allows it, but because investor behavior demands it.
At the center of this shift is the retail investor. Once considered peripheral to institutional flows, today’s retail participants are not only more active, but they’re also reshaping the very structure of market access.
Retail’s Rise Is Structural, Not Cyclical
The surge in retail trading during the pandemic wasn’t a temporary spike, it was the start of a structural shift in how markets operate and who participates in them. This shift is underpinned by lasting changes in technology access, commission-free trading, and investor education, factors that won’t reverse with market cycles.
Nasdaq data shows that retail investors are now net buyers of ETFs nearly every day. Their gross trading activity, across both ETFs and individual equities, continues to grow steadily. While they still account for less than 4% of total market value traded[1], their influence is outsized when measured by volume, behavioral impact, and platform expectations.
Consider ETF trading: retail participation has increased from 5.2% to 6.4% of total ETF volume in recent years[2]. But volume alone doesn’t capture the full picture. According to Nasdaq’s 2025 ETF Retail Investor Survey, daily and weekly trading activity among retail investors rose 6% and 8% year-over-year, respectively. Gen Z is leading this shift, with 49% trading weekly and 25% trading daily, behavior that increasingly mirrors institutional engagement patterns.
This cohort isn’t just more active, they’re more deliberate. Nearly 70% of retail ETF holders now prioritize risk, market conditions, and price trends when researching investments. Long-form content engagement is up 4%, suggesting a move toward deeper analysis and more informed decision-making.
One of the clearest signals of this evolution is the growing demand for extended and overnight trading. Retail investors are reacting to macroeconomic data, earnings releases, and geopolitical events in real time, and they expect the market to be accessible when the news breaks, not just when the bell rings.
Extended Hours Are Expanding—And Retail Is Leading the Charge
Extended-hours trading (4 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. ET and 4 p.m. – 8 p.m. ET) now accounts for approximately 11% of total daily volume, with more than 1.7 billion shares traded outside of the traditional session[3]. That’s more than double the volume seen in early 2019.
But the composition of that volume tells a more nuanced story. Pre-market trading has grown 15-fold since 2019, while post-market activity has increased just 2.3 times. Today, pre-market sessions account for over 55% of extended-hours volume, up from 37% five years ago[4].
This shift reflects a growing global investor base, many of whom are retail participants engaging from outside the U.S. time zone. Overnight trading (8 p.m. to 4 a.m. ET), while still a small slice of total volume, just 0.2%, is gaining traction[5]. Much of this activity is driven by retail investors reacting to earnings releases, macroeconomic data, and geopolitical events that occur outside of regular hours. In today’s global information cycle, market-moving news doesn’t wait for the opening bell, investors are responding in real time, around the clock.
Infrastructure and Transparency Must Keep Pace
The move toward 24 hour trading is not without its challenges. As retail investors continue to shape market structure, transparency must evolve to reflect how they actually trade. Today, over half of all trades on U.S. exchanges are odd lots, a direct result of the shift toward notional and fractional share trading. These smaller orders, once considered peripheral, now represent the core of retail behavior. Ensuring visibility into odd lot activity is essential to building trust and enabling smarter decision-making in a 24 hour environment.
As exchanges and regulators work to modernize clearing, settlement, and data infrastructure, investor protection must remain a top priority. Sophisticated, real-time data delivery, via API-first, cloud-native platforms, is essential to ensure that all participants, regardless of when they trade, have access to the insights they need. In a 24 hour environment, data isn’t just a tool, it’s critical infrastructure. It underpins price discovery, risk management, and investor protection in real time.
The Future Is Already in Motion
Activity outside traditional market hours is accelerating, driven by retail investors who expect flexibility, immediacy, and access to actionable data whenever they choose to engage. But to truly meet investor expectations, the industry must modernize the data infrastructure that powers these markets, ensuring it is fast, connected, and resilient enough to support continuous, global participation.
Nasdaq® is a registered trademark of Nasdaq, Inc. The information contained above is provided for informational and educational purposes only, and nothing contained herein should be construed as investment advice, either on behalf of a particular security or an overall investment strategy. Neither Nasdaq, Inc. nor any of its affiliates makes any recommendation to buy or sell any security or any representation about the financial condition of any company. Statements regarding Nasdaq-listed companies or Nasdaq proprietary indexes are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investors should undertake their own due diligence and carefully evaluate companies before investing. ADVICE FROM A SECURITIES PROFESSIONAL IS STRONGLY ADVISED.
[1] Nasdaq. “Retail Trading Growth: A Perspective.” https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/retail-trading-growth-perspective
[2] Nasdaq. “2025 ETF Retail Investor Survey” https://www.nasdaq.com/solutions/nasdaq-etf-retail-study
[3] Nasdaq. “Looking at All-Day Data: 24-Hour Trading.” https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/looking-all-day-data-24-hour-trading
[4] Nasdaq. “Looking at All-Day Data: 24-Hour Trading.” https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/looking-all-day-data-24-hour-trading
[5] Nasdaq. “Looking at All-Day Data: 24-Hour Trading.” https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/looking-all-day-data-24-hour-trading
