How to Trade Extended Hours: Pre- and Post-Hours
Discover how our pre-market, post-market and weekend trading offerings can enable you to make the most of price movements outside of regular market hours.
Start trading today. Call +971 (0) 4 5592108 or email sales.ae@ig.com. Our sales team is available from 8:00am to 6:00pm (Dubai time), Monday to Friday.
Contact us: +971 (0) 4 5592108
Start trading today. Call +971 (0) 4 5592108 or email sales.ae@ig.com. Our sales team is available from 8:00am to 6:00pm (Dubai time), Monday to Friday.
Contact us: +971 (0) 4 5592108
What is out-of-hours trading?
Out-of-hours trading is any trading activity that takes place outside of a market’s standard trading window. A range of our markets are available for out-of-hours trading, including indices, forex, cryptos, shares, and commodities.
Out-of-hours trading can be separated into:
- Pre-market trading, which takes place before the main trading session opens
- Post-market trading, which takes place after the main trading session closes
- Weekend trading, which enables you to trade selected markets on Saturday and Sunday
Why trade out-of-hours?
When you trade during pre-market, post-market or weekend sessions, you can:
- React to breaking news and company earnings reports as they happen
- Open, edit or close a position outside of the main market session
- Hedge your exposure if breaking news is likely to affect an existing position
What out-of-hours sessions are available?
What is pre-market trading?
Pre-market trading enables you to trade a market before the main session opens. For example, while most traders can only access US stock markets from 5.30pm to 12-midnight (Dubai time), pre-market trading could enable you to access these markets hours before they open. We offer exclusive extended and pre-market hours on All Sessions stocks, indices, forex pairs and options.
We also provide weekend trading before the Monday open on selected global indices and the GBP/USD forex pair – which you won’t get with any other provider.
What is post-market trading?
Post-market trading enables you to trade after the main session closes. For example, while most traders can only access US stock markets from 5.30pm to 12midnight (Dubai time), post-market trading could grant you access to these markets for hours after they close. Our exclusive extended hours on All Sessions stocks, indices, and forex pairs enable you to trade post market.
You’ll also be able to access our weekend trading offering after the Saturday close on selected global indices and the EUR/USD forex pair – only available when you trade with us.
What is weekend trading?
Weekend trading enables you to take a position on a Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning. Much of our weekend trading offering is exclusive, and we offer global indices and the GBP/USD forex pair. We also offer EUR/USD and USD/JPY.
You can use weekend trading to react to breaking news on a Saturday and Sunday, or to hedge your weekday positions with a weekend one on the same market. That’s because our weekend markets are separate to their weekday counterparts.
How to trade pre-market and post-market
Learn what moves pre-market and post-market prices
A range of factors can influence pre-market and post-market prices, including earnings releases, monetary policy meetings, macroeconomic events, and any unexpected news.
For example, companies often report results in the pre- or post-market sessions – before the main trading session starts. This can include US firms such as Apple, Alphabet, Netflix, Meta, Amazon and Tesla, which are available as part of our All Sessions stock offering.
Prices tend to move rapidly when news breaks outside of the main session, as a result of lower trading volumes and liquidity. So, traders who don’t have access to pre- or post-market trading can find that they miss the opportunity to take full advantage of the price moves associated with these reports.
Choose a pre-market or post-market strategy
Pre-market and post-market trading sessions can form an important part of a trader’s strategy. There are two main ways to take advantage of price movements during these sessions:
Trading breakouts
Breakouts typically follow a period of consolidation – when an asset’s price is relatively static after a strong price move in either direction. Consolidation often precedes an announcement, as traders and investors are waiting to see how they should act.
Breakout traders will look for consolidation in the market, then open positions on the back of relevant news announcement. Their aim is to take full advantage of the resulting price move.
Technical indicators that can help you assess when breakouts could occur include Average True Range and Bollinger Bands.
Hedging gap risk
Gapping occurs when the price at the start of the main session is substantially higher or lower than the end of the previous day’s post-market session.
You can minimise gap risk by hedging with our out-of-hours markets. For example, if you were concerned that a Tesla shareholding could fall in value before the main session opens, you could take a short position on Tesla during our post-market session.
If the market falls as expected, the profit from your short position would help offset the loss to your shareholding. But, if it rises instead, the increase in the value of your shareholding would help offset the loss on your short position.
Open your position
Whether you choose to trade pre-market, post-market or at the weekend, the steps to open your position are always the same. Open an account then learn how to place your first out-of-hours trade.
How to trade at the weekend
Learn what moves prices at the weekend
Major price movements on our weekend markets most often result from breaking news or macroeconomic events.
Forex pairs and indices are strongly influenced by events including G7, G20 and EU summits, as well as trade negotiations, referendums and elections.
Choose a weekend trading strategy
Our weekend trading offering gives you an opportunity to trade markets. There are two main ways to take advantage of price movements during these sessions:
Trading macro events
Macro events often result in an announcement, such as an interest rate decision or the conclusion of trade talks.
The expected outcome of such an announcement will often be priced into the markets before it actually happens, so prices can move quickly if there is a difference between expectations and reality.
You can take a position early, provided you have an appropriate risk management strategy in place, or wait to see if something unexpected happens before opening a trade.
Hedging at the weekend
If you’re concerned that weekend news could affect an existing position, you’ll be able to use our weekend markets to hedge risk.
For example, if you have a US stock portfolio but are concerned about a short-term drop in its value, you might consider taking a short position on our Weekend Wall Street index.
As long as the two positions are roughly equal in value and opposite in direction, you’ll minimise the effect of any sudden negative moves over the weekend. That’s because any loss to one position would be offset by a gain to the other.
Open your position
Whether you choose to trade at the weekend, or in our pre-market or post-market sessions, the steps to open your position are always the same. Open an account then learn how to place your first out-of-hours trade. Alternatively, you could practise on a demo until you’re ready to stake capital.
How to open your out-of-hours trade
Choose a trading method
Create a trading account with us, and you’ll be able to trade pre-market, post-market and at the weekend with CFDs. These are financial derivatives, which enable you to speculate on the price of a market rising by going long, or falling by going short.
Alternatively, you can open a stock trading account to invest in shares out-of-hours with our All Sessions stock offering on more than 70 US shares.:
Stock trading
Stock trading enables you to invest directly in shares. You’ll profit if you sell after they have risen in value.
You’ll also be eligible to receive dividends, and you might get company voting rights.
CFDs
Contracts for difference (CFDs) are an agreement to exchange the difference in price of a particular financial product between the time the position is opened and when it’s closed.
Select a market
Open each tab below to learn more about the range of markets available during each session.
Shares
We offer extended hours trading on over 70 All Sessions US shares – including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Tesla.
Extended share trading hours
| Market hours (Dubai time) | |
| Normal stock market dealing hours on US shares | 5.30pm – 12 midnight, Monday to Friday |
| Our extended dealing hours on All Sessions US stocks | 12pm – 4am Monday to Thursday and 12pm Friday to 1am Saturday |
Indices
We offer over 35 more weekly trading hours than our nearest competitor on popular indices including the FTSE 100, Germany 40 and Wall Street.2 These markets enable you to get exposure to a country’s most popular stocks from a single position.
Weekly indices trading hours
| Index* | CFDs (Dubai time) |
| Germany 40 |
2.02am Monday 1am Saturday |
| France 40 | 2.02am Monday 1am Saturday |
| Wall Street | 2am Monday 1am Saturday |
| US Tech 100 | 2am Monday 1am Saturday |
| US 500 | 2am Monday 1am Saturday |
| FTSE 100 | 2.02am Monday 1am Saturday |
| Spain 35 | 2.02am Monday 1am Saturday |
| EuroStoxx50 | 2.02am Monday 1am Saturday |
| Hang Seng | 2.02am Monday 1am Saturday |
| Japan 225 | 2am Monday 1am Saturday |
*This list of 24-hour indices is not exhaustive. Please refer to our product information pages for more details.
Forex
We offer major, minor and exotic currency pairs from 12 midnight Sunday until 1am Saturday (Dubai time). We also offer EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY at the weekend.
Bear in mind that the forex market’s opening hours will vary in March, April, October and November, as countries shift to and from daylight savings time.
Commodities
Several of our commodity markets can be traded 23 hours a day using CFDs, including energies and precious metals. Trading times are dependent on your preferred commodity, and trading hours may also differ across spot (cash) and futures contracts. Learn more about commodity trading hours.
Cryptocurrency
Our CFDs on cryptos trade 24-hours, 5 days a week, closing at 1am on Saturday. The weekend market (see below) then reopens at 9am Saturday. The following cryptos are available for CFD trading:
| Bitcoin |
| Ether |
| Litecoin |
Weekend trading opportunities
Our weekend indices and forex markets are completely separate to their weekday counterparts. This means that rather than trading our weekday ‘Germany 40’ market on a Saturday and Sunday, you’ll be trading the ‘Weekend Germany 40’ market on our trading platform. Or, rather than trading ‘EUR/USD’, you’ll be trading ‘Weekend EUR/USD’.
Weekend trading hours
| Market | Weekend trading times (Dubai time) |
| Weekend UK 100 | 11am Saturday – 1.40am Monday |
| Weekend Wall Street | 11am Saturday – 1.40am Monday |
| Weekend HS50 | 11am Saturday – 1.40am Monday |
| Weekend GBP/USD | 11am Saturday – 11.40pm Sunday |
| Weekend EUR/USD | 11am Saturday – 11.40pm Sunday |
| Weekend USD/JPY | 11am Saturday – 11.40pm Sunday |
Weekend CFDs on cryptos
Our weekend trading times for cryptocurrencies are 11am Saturday - 1am Monday (Dubai time). The available markets include:
| Bitcoin |
| Ether |
| Litecoin |
Understand the risks of pre-market, post-market and weekend trading
The risks of pre-market, post-market and weekend trading include:
- Lower liquidity than the main market session. Many market participants prefer to trade during the main session – when prices are generally more stable – meaning there can be fewer active participants to fill the other side of trades out-of-hours
- Higher volatility than the main market session. Lower liquidity can result in more dramatic swings in prices, which can be good or bad – depending on your individual risk appetite
- Wider spreads than the main market session. The spread is the difference between the buy and sell price on offer. Spreads can widen when volatility rises or liquidity falls – both of which occur more frequently out-of-hours
It’s important to understand your risk appetite and potential losses before opening a trade. Depending on which of our ways to trade you’re using, you can employ risk management.
With CFDs, you can manage your risk using stops and limits, which automatically close your trade when the price hits a pre-determined level. Guaranteed stops are the best way to cap risk because these always close your trade at the exact level you specify – even if the market moves quickly or ‘gaps’. A small premium is payable if a guaranteed stop is triggered.
Risk profiles on options differ according to whether you buy or sell an option. When buying, your potential loss is capped at the premium. However, when selling a call, your potential losses are unlimited. When selling a put, your risk is the full market value of your position.
Always take steps to manage your risk.
Place your trade
To place a trade during the pre-market, post-market or weekend sessions, create an account and go to our web trading platform or mobile trading app. Once there, follow the steps below:
- Select your market
- Decide whether to go long or short
- Choose your position size
- Manage your risk
- Place your deal
The below screengrab is showing how to open a position on our weekday FTSE 100 offering. Remember that if you want to trade the FTSE 100 at the weekend, you’ll need to search for ‘Weekend UK 100’ on our trading platform.
Alternatively, you can practise using our platform with a demo account. You’ll get $10,000 in virtual funds to build your confidence before trading the live out-of-hours market sessions.
FAQs
What is All Sessions stock trading?
All Session Stock Trading is part of our exclusive after-hours offering. This gives you the opportunity to trade over 70 US stocks, which we offer you during extended trading hours. You can trade derivatives on stocks (All sessions).
Our equity derivatives trading hours (All Sessions) are as follows: Monday to Thursday from 12noon to 4am and from 12noon Friday to 1am Saturday (Dubai time).
What are 'All Sessions' shares?
All Session Stocks are over 70 US stocks that we offer for trading outside of the main market session. You can speculate on our stock offering (All Sessions) from Monday to Thursday from 12noon to 4am and from 12noon Friday to 1am Saturday (Dubai time).
Can a weekday position see price action over the weekend?
The value of your weekday positions will not move over the weekend, nor will a weekday position opened on Friday/Saturday convert to a weekend position once the weekend markets open.
However, your weekend positions, which remain open after the weekend markets close on a Sunday evening or Monday morning, will be converted to a regular weekday position when the market opens, with any stops or limits in place.
How can I hedge my risk at the weekend?
You can hedge your risk over the weekend by opening an opposite position on a Saturday or Sunday, offsetting potential losses on a weekday position. This possibility exists with our weekend indices and forex markets as they are separate from their weekday equivalents.
For example, let's say you opened a long position on the Germany 40 when the market closed on a Saturday. If you were alerted to news on Saturday that could cause the market to fall quickly when it reopens, you may consider going short on the weekend Germany 40. A loss in your weekday position would then be offset by a gain in your weekend position.
How can you trade in extended trading hours?
You can trade outside of regular trading hours by speculating on price action during the pre or post trading session, or over the weekend with a provider that offers weekend trading like us.
How do prices move during extended trading hours?
Our extended hours rates vary by market. For example, our quotes for US stocks (All Sessions) are derived from the underlying market. For indices, on the other hand, our extended hours prices are constructed by analysing historical correlations with similar markets.
Why do stocks and other assets rise before and after the market close?
Stocks and other assets may experience increased pre- and post-market volatility due to breaking news or business reports. Deciding whether to trade pre- or post-market depends on your individual risk appetite.
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1 24/7 excludes the hours on Saturday from 1am to 11am (Dubai time), and 20 minutes just before the weekday market opens on Monday morning.
Contact us
New client: 00971 (0) 4 559 2108 or sales.ae@ig.com
Clients: 00971 (0) 4 559 2104
11:00 Saturday - 01:00 Saturday
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