Wetin Time Options Start Trading?

Options start trading by 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time, the same minute wey US stocks dey open. Four index products dey trade overnight before that time, and exchanges start to accept orders for the regular session by 7:30 a.m. But order wey dey that early window go queue; e no go fill yet. The morning options clock get four key times: order acceptance by 7:30 a.m., overnight session wey stop by 9:25 a.m., five-minute gap, then the 9:30 a.m. open.

What time options start trading?

Regular options trading dey start by 9:30 a.m. ET. Na so e be for every listed US option, whether the underlying asset na single stock, ETF or index. Cboe Options Exchange, wey list SPX and VIX options, dey publish the session schedule for Eastern Time. As e be for August 26, 2026, the morning rows be:

Begin GTH Order Acceptance (SPX, VIX, XSP, RUT), 8:00 p.m.
Global Trading Hours (SPX, VIX, XSP, RUT), 8:15 p.m. to 9:25 a.m.
Begin RTH Order Acceptance, 7:30 a.m.
Regular Trading Hours (RTH), 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.

Source: Cboe Options Exchange, Hours & Holidays, read August 26, 2026.

RTH na the exchange shorthand for regular trading hours, the normal session. GTH mean global trading hours, the overnight session. The underlying stock market get its own clock, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Our stock market hours guide explain each session one by one.

What order fit do during the 7:30 a.m. acceptance window?

Order acceptance no be trading. From 7:30 a.m. ET, exchange dey collect orders for the regular session and hold dem inside a queuing book. Order wey dey inside that book dey rest. You fit cancel or replace am. E no fit match. Cboe own documentation explain am clearly for symbols wey no get extended session: early order go rest until regular open by 9:30 a.m. ET.

By 9:30, queued orders enter the opening process. Na one matching event wey print the first trade for each option series at one price. If person enter limit order by 7:45 a.m., e fit show no fill for almost two hours, then fill when the market bell ring.

Two things follow from this. Price wey broker screen show by 8:00 a.m. na indication, no be live two-sided market wey order fit hit. Also, the 7:30 a.m. time na exchange rule, no be broker rule. Individual brokers set their own earliest entry time, and some no dey forward options orders before the open at all.

Which options dey trade overnight, and when that session dey stop?

Four Cboe index products dey trade through the night: SPX, the S&P 500 index option; XSP, the mini S&P 500 index option; VIX, the volatility index option; and RUT, the Russell 2000 index option. Their global trading hours session dey run from 8:15 p.m. to 9:25 a.m. ET, while order acceptance for the session dey start by 8:00 p.m. Nothing else for the US options tape dey trade during those hours. Trader for Tokyo wey dey watch the S&P 500 by 10 p.m. New York time dey look at that same order book. We explain the setup in trading 0DTE options from Japan.

The overnight session dey stop by 9:25 a.m., five minutes before the regular open. Those five minutes no be trading session. Orders wey dey rest inside the overnight book by 9:25 go join the regular session queue and take part in the 9:30 opening process. The gap give the exchange clean handover between the two books.

How the tape dey look during the first thirty minutes?

Session rules explain wetin dey allowed. The tape show the prints. The panel below arrange every US-listed option contract wey trade into Eastern Time half-hours, across the ten calendar days wey end two sessions ago. E report each bucket’s share of total contract volume.

WITH
    tape AS
    (
        SELECT
            intDiv(
                toHour(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) * 60
              + toMinute(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')), 30) * 30 AS bucket_minute,
            sum(volume)                                                          AS contracts
        FROM global_markets.options_minute_aggs
        WHERE window_start >= today() - 12
          AND window_start <  today() - 2
        GROUP BY bucket_minute
    ),
    shares AS
    (
        SELECT
            bucket_minute,
            contracts,
            round(100 * contracts / sum(contracts) OVER (), 2) AS share_pct
        FROM tape
    )
SELECT
    formatDateTime(toDateTime('2026-01-01 00:00:00') + grid.bucket_minute * 60, '%H:%i') AS et_time,
    round(ifNull(s.contracts, 0) / 1000000, 2)                                           AS contracts_millions,
    ifNull(s.share_pct, 0)                                                               AS share_pct
FROM
(
    SELECT 420 + 30 * arrayJoin(range(21)) AS bucket_minute
) AS grid
LEFT JOIN shares AS s ON s.bucket_minute = grid.bucket_minute
ORDER BY grid.bucket_minute

The 07:00 half-hour carry 0% of the sample volume. Na the overnight index session dey finish its final hours. The half-hour wey start by 09:30 carry 13.69%, or 66.98 million contracts across the sample. Na that point the open happen. Buckets after 16:00 belong to the index close and the curb session. what time options stop trading cover those ones fully.

If we zoom into one liquid name, the boundary go clear more. SPY, the S&P 500 ETF, get one of the busiest options books for the market and e no get overnight session. This panel show each minute from 09:15 to 10:00 ET. E report the average contracts printed per session for each minute, together with the share of sampled sessions wey print anything during that minute.

WITH tape AS
(
    SELECT
        toHour(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) * 60
      + toMinute(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York'))              AS minute_of_day,
        countDistinct(toDate(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York'))) AS days_traded,
        sum(volume)                                                         AS contracts
    FROM global_markets.options_minute_aggs
    WHERE startsWith(ticker, 'O:SPY')
      AND length(ticker) = 20
      AND window_start >= today() - 12
      AND window_start <  today() - 2
    GROUP BY minute_of_day
)
SELECT
    formatDateTime(toDateTime('2026-01-01 00:00:00') + grid.minute_of_day * 60, '%H:%i')         AS et_time,
    toUInt64(round(ifNull(t.contracts, 0) / greatest((SELECT max(days_traded) FROM tape), 1)))   AS contract_volume,
    round(100 * ifNull(t.days_traded, 0) / greatest((SELECT max(days_traded) FROM tape), 1), 1)  AS active_pct
FROM
(
    SELECT 555 + arrayJoin(range(46)) AS minute_of_day
) AS grid
LEFT JOIN tape AS t ON t.minute_of_day = grid.minute_of_day
ORDER BY grid.minute_of_day

By 09:15, the average na 0 contracts, and that minute print something for 0% of the sampled sessions. By 09:30, the average na 62625 contracts, and e print for 100% of dem. The gap between those two rows answer the title question with measured data, no be assertion. Quoted spreads dey behave differently during those first minutes compared with every other time of day. That topic dey inside why option spreads widen at the open.

Equity options, ETF options and index options

Every listed option dey open by 9:30 a.m. ET. Na the close separate the products. Single-stock and ETF options finish by 4:00 p.m. ET together with the stock market. Cboe proprietary index options continue until 4:15 p.m. ET, wey be the RTH end time for the session row above. After that, SPX, XSP, VIX and RUT get curb session until 5:00 p.m. The close, the fifteen-minute tail and the expiration-day cutoff all dey explained in what time options stop trading.

One change dey pending for the morning session. Cboe don announce expanded session for some single-stock options. The schedule notice describe am as global trading hours from 7:30 a.m. to 9:25 a.m. ET, together with regular hours from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. As of August 26, 2026, that schedule notice no get effective date. Until dem announce one, 9:30 a.m. remain the first minute wey single-stock option fit trade.

Does half day change when options start trading?

No. Shortened session move the close but leave the open unchanged. On the half days around Thanksgiving and Christmas, market dey open on the normal schedule and close by 1:00 p.m. ET instead of 4:00 p.m. The exchange calendar show both times for each shortened day.

SELECT
    formatDateTime(date, '%b %e')                                          AS holiday_label,
    any(name)                                                              AS holiday,
    formatDateTime(toTimeZone(any(open),  'America/New_York'), '%I:%i %p') AS scheduled_open_et,
    formatDateTime(toTimeZone(any(close), 'America/New_York'), '%I:%i %p') AS scheduled_close_et,
    round((toHour(toTimeZone(any(open),  'America/New_York')) * 60
         + toMinute(toTimeZone(any(open),  'America/New_York'))) / 60, 2)  AS open_hour_et,
    round((toHour(toTimeZone(any(close), 'America/New_York')) * 60
         + toMinute(toTimeZone(any(close), 'America/New_York'))) / 60, 2)  AS close_hour_et
FROM global_markets.stocks_market_holidays
WHERE date >= today()
  AND status = 'early-close'
GROUP BY date
ORDER BY date

Each of the 2 shortened sessions ahead dey open by 09:30 AM ET and close by 01:00 PM ET, starting with Thanksgiving on Nov 27. The opening bar remain flat across every row, while the closing bar drop. Full closures and the rest of the calendar dey inside stock market holidays and early closes.

FAQ

What time options start trading for morning?

9:30 a.m. ET, for every listed US option. Exchanges begin to accept regular-session orders by 7:30 a.m. ET, and those orders wait inside a queue until the opening process by 9:30.

Person fit trade options during premarket?

Only four index products. SPX, XSP, VIX and RUT options dey trade for Cboe overnight session from 8:15 p.m. to 9:25 a.m. ET. Single-stock and ETF options no get premarket session as of August 26, 2026. Premarket order for those names go rest until 9:30 a.m.

Why options dey start by 9:30 instead of earlier?

Listed option dey settle against the price of an underlying stock or index, and the regular session for those underlyings dey start by 9:30 a.m. ET. Overnight index session na the exception, and e dey stop five minutes before regular open.

Options dey open by 9:30 on half day?

Yes. Shortened trading day move the close to 1:00 p.m. ET but leave the 9:30 a.m. open unchanged. The dates ahead dey inside the panel above and our stock market holidays and early closes calendar.

Wetin be the difference between order acceptance and trading?

Order acceptance mean say exchange go hold order inside a queue. Trading mean say order fit match. Between 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. ET, regular-session option order dey rest, and e fit match only during the 9:30 opening process.

Every panel here come with the SQL wey produce am. Open any one to see exactly how dem count the clock buckets, or ask the same question for plain English on the Strasmore terminal.