Cboe's 24/5 Small-Cap Play Reshapes the Global Trading Clock

CHICAGO, IL – December 03, 2025 – Cboe Global Markets has fired the latest shot in the escalating race to create a 24-hour financial market, announcing plans to extend trading for its Russell 2000 Index (RUT) options to nearly five days a week. The move, set to launch in February 2026, is a strategic play to unlock the volatile U.S. small-cap equity market for a global audience, particularly in Europe and Asia, fundamentally altering how investors worldwide can manage risk and seize opportunity.

Beginning February 9, 2026, the Chicago-based exchange will add an overnight session during its Global Trading Hours (GTH), running from 8:15 p.m. to 9:25 a.m. ET, complemented by a new "Curb" session from 4:15 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET. This expansion will place RUT options alongside Cboe's flagship S&P 500 (SPX) and Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) options in its round-the-clock lineup. While the announcement focuses on a single product, its implications are far broader, reflecting a fundamental rewiring of market infrastructure to meet the demands of an interconnected, always-on global economy.

The Accelerating Race for a Borderless Market

Cboe's decision is not happening in a vacuum. It is a calculated move in a high-stakes competition among the world's leading exchanges to cater to burgeoning international demand. The data paints a clear picture: Cboe's GTH sessions have seen explosive growth, with volumes in 2025 surging 179% compared to the full year of 2022. This initiative directly targets the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, which has become the fastest-growing hub for derivatives trading.

"Extending trading hours for Cboe's Russell 2000 Index product suite will be another significant milestone in our efforts to expand access to U.S. index options for investors worldwide," said Rob Hocking, Global Head of Derivatives at Cboe, in the company's official press release. This expansion is designed to empower traders in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo to react to U.S. market-moving news during their own business hours.

This strategic push places Cboe in direct competition with rivals who are also dismantling the traditional trading day. CME Group has long offered nearly 24-hour access to its suite of U.S. equity index futures, including its own Micro E-mini Russell 2000 futures, via its Globex platform. Meanwhile, both Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) have announced their own ambitious plans for extended trading, with Nasdaq targeting 24-hour stock trading by the second half of 2026. This industry-wide pivot signals a definitive shift away from geographically anchored trading sessions toward a single, continuous global marketplace.

Small-Caps, Big Volatility: A New Toolkit for Traders

The choice of the Russell 2000 is particularly significant. Unlike the large-cap dominated S&P 500, the Russell 2000 serves as the primary barometer for U.S. small-cap equities—a segment historically known for its higher volatility and greater sensitivity to interest rate changes and domestic economic trends. This inherent volatility makes its options contracts powerful tools for hedging and speculation.

By extending trading hours, Cboe is handing traders a more precise instrument for managing risk around the clock. An earnings miss from a key small-cap company or a sudden macroeconomic shift in Asia can now be acted upon instantly, rather than forcing investors to wait for the U.S. market open, by which time much of the opportunity or risk may have already been priced in. Average daily volume in RUT options has already climbed to nearly 75,000 contracts in 2025, a 66% increase from 2022, indicating a strong and growing appetite for these instruments.

The expansion also brings the Cboe Russell 2000 Volatility Index (RVX) into the spotlight. As a measure of 30-day expected volatility for the small-cap index, the RVX often runs higher than the VIX, reflecting the unique risk profile of its underlying components. Continuous trading in RUT options is expected to create a more robust and liquid ecosystem for the RVX, providing traders with a more dynamic way to trade and hedge small-cap volatility.

The Operational Gauntlet of Continuous Trading

While the promise of a 24/5 market is compelling, the operational and regulatory hurdles are formidable. The transition is far more complex than simply leaving the lights on. The primary challenge during off-peak hours is liquidity. Thinner markets can lead to wider bid-ask spreads, increased price volatility, and difficulty in executing large orders, potentially putting individual investors at a disadvantage against sophisticated institutional players.

Regulators are watching closely. FINRA rules already mandate that firms provide customers with explicit risk disclosures about the dangers of extended-hours trading. Beyond disclosure, the entire market infrastructure—from trade reporting to clearing and settlement—must be re-engineered. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) is already planning to extend its clearing hours to support this new environment, a massive undertaking in its own right. Exchanges and brokers must also invest heavily in technology to ensure near-perfect uptime, enhance cybersecurity, and adapt risk management systems for real-time, continuous monitoring.

Staffing models must also evolve, moving towards "follow-the-sun" rotations to provide constant operational support and market surveillance. For Cboe, its prior success with 24x5 trading in SPX and VIX options provides a proven blueprint, but scaling this model across more products and participants introduces new layers of complexity. This move toward a global, continuous market is not just a technological challenge but a structural one, forcing the industry to redefine long-standing concepts like the official "trading day" and to ensure that market integrity is maintained across all time zones.