CMC Markets has widened 24/5 trading to more than 5,000 US shares and exchange-traded funds and added extended-hours dealing for clients of its investing platform, CMC Invest, the company said on Wednesday. The London-listed firm said the changes stretch the available US trading day from 6.5 hours to as much as 16 hours, though the extended access applies only to instruments where overnight pricing is available.

Until this week, CMC ran 24/5 dealing on a much smaller set of US names, around 250 shares and ETFs. The broker had already folded that service into a wider always-on push, pairing it with weekend gold CFDs for traders who want to adjust positions before the Monday open.

A Bigger US Universe, With Conditions

The headline change is scale. CMC said more than 5,000 US shares and ETFs now trade on a 24/5 basis, up from a few hundred, alongside extended-hours access for investors using CMC Invest, its stockbroking platform.

Both pieces sit behind the same limit. The 24/5 window runs only where overnight pricing is available, and CMC did not disclose how many of the 5,000-plus instruments meet that test. It also did not give client numbers or volumes for the existing service, or say how much activity already happens outside regular hours.

Vaughn Affonso, co-head of dealing at CMC Markets, said the change responds to US moves that land outside the regular session, adding that "expanding our trading hours gives clients more opportunity to react when markets move."

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Brokers and Exchanges Chase the Overnight Window

Longer access to US equities has become a common selling point, though firms have arrived at it from different directions. Interactive Brokers extended overnight trading to about 10,000 US stocks and ETFs, dealing in the underlying shares.

Robinhood built a 24-hour market on real stocks and ETFs that runs from Sunday evening to Friday evening. Charles Schwab has since opened round-the-clock trading to all of its clients, the same real-share ground CMC is now extending through CMC Invest.

Other firms have kept the exposure in derivatives. STARTRADER opened 24/5 US stock trading through contracts for difference as CFD brokers moved to keep those markets open. New venues are also being built for the demand, including the SEC-approved 24X exchange, designed for extended-hours trading from the start.

Growing Demand, Few Numbers

CMC framed the expansion as a response to rising demand for access beyond traditional hours, without attaching figures to it.

Laurence Booth, global head of markets at CMC Markets, said the firm was simplifying how clients reach markets and that "expanding 24/5 access is an important step in that journey."

The update follows CMC's recent addition of fractional investing to the same trading and investing range. For now the broader US day rests on a condition the company set out but did not size, since the 24/5 window opens only where overnight pricing exists, and 24/5 still stops for the weekend.