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Robinhood Markets is pushing US stock trading closer to a 24/7 model, raising a bigger question for investors: when does one trading day actually end and the next one begin? The retail brokerage plans to let customers trade a selected list of stocks and exchange-traded funds over the weekend, in what would be a first for modern US equity markets. The service will run from Sunday at 8 p.m. New York time through Friday at 8 p.m., with weekend orders routed to a trading venue operated by Bruce Markets. “Breaking news doesn’t wait for an opening bell,” said Steve Quirk, Robinhood’s chief brokerage officer. But longer trading hours do not necessarily mean that the traditional trading day has disappeared. “The extension of trading time is ‘perceived access’ and does not replace the exchange session,” said Sidharth Sogani Jain, Founder, CEO & Fund Manager at Blue Aster Capital and CREBACO Global. The conventional US equity session still runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. New York time. That 4 p.m. close remains important because it sets the reference price, index levels, corporate actions and the T+1 settlement clock, Jain said. Robinhood already offers 24-hour weekday trading that resets at 8 p.m. ET. Its weekend initiative essentially seeks to fill the Friday-to-Sunday gap, taking retail investors closer to continuous access. Yet, the structure of that weekend market could be very different from the main exchange session. “Saturday and Sunday prints should be read as a thinner, off-exchange session: wider spreads, less depth, and prices that may not hold at Monday’s open,” Jain said. That distinction could become increasingly important as more brokers and exchanges extend trading hours. Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange and 24X National Exchange are planning longer sessions, with Nasdaq adding a trading window from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. Robinhood is also expanding beyond conventional equities. The company plans to offer perpetual futures on select cryptocurrencies, with leverage of up to 10 times on some contracts, through its Bitstamp exchange. It has also announced financial-earnings contracts tied to indicators such as Tesla vehicle sales, subject to final SEC approval. The push reflects Robinhood’s broader strategy of expanding access to products once largely confined to professional traders. Still, the weekend experiment highlights a key distinction between trading access and market structure. As Jain put it, “Until clearing and surveillance run on the same clock, 24/7 is convenience, not a new definition of the day.” Interestingly, weekend equity trading is not entirely new. SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda recently noted that New York financial markets operated Saturday sessions for eight decades, until 1952. Robinhood may therefore be reviving an old idea in a radically different market: a financial system where the question is no longer whether markets can trade seven days a week, but which market clock investors should actually follow. Sanchari Ghosh is an Assistant Editor at Mint with over 12 years of experience in journalism, specialising in personal finance, DLT & DeFi, geopolitics and foreign policy, with a particular emphasis on how these areas intersect. <br> She writes extensively about how money works in everyday life—helping readers navigate personal finance decisions. <br> As AI reshapes investing behaviour, capital is increasingly flowing into decentralized ecosystems, redefining how assets are managed, traded, and valued. She focuses on explaining how money flows within frameworks like Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), DeFi protocols, and crypto markets—while also exploring what the future of money could look like in a trustless, programmable financial world. <br> She also focuses on immigration-related issues, simplifying complex topics around visas, passports, overseas financial planning, and the many practical challenges Indians face while moving or living abroad. <br> Alongside personal finance, Sanchari has a strong understanding of international politics, contemporary and historical conflicts, and global state decisions. She closely tracks how geopolitical developments influence economies, markets, and individual financial choices, bringing together finance and global affairs in her reporting. <br> She began her career as a desk editor, which gave her a strong foundation in news writing. Over time, her interest naturally shifted toward personal finance. Before joining Mint in 2020, she worked DNA, The Times of India, Outlook Money, BloombergQuint, and ETMoney. At Mint, she got an opportunity to expand her coverage to include immigration and geopolitical developments while continuing to closely follow personal finance trends and market movements.As a journalist, she is committed to accuracy, intellectual rigour, and fairness. <br> She is an English Major and her work took her across cities including Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune. Living independently from an early age gave her firsthand experience in managing life and money on her own. This practical exposure sparked her strong interest in personal finance. <br> Outside the newsroom, Sanchari is a sports enthusiast who regularly plays lawn tennis and squash. In her younger years, she was also a national-level badminton player. Catch all the Business News , Market News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates. Oops! 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