Yuanta Securities, US Stock Pre-Market and After-Hours Trading Volume Surpasses $50 Million

Increased Demand for US Corporate Earnings Announcements
Volatility Also Affected by COVID-19 and Oil Price Plunge

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Yuanta Securities has surpassed $50 million (approximately 61.8 billion KRW) in pre-market and after-hours trading of U.S. stocks.

Yuanta Securities announced on the 22nd that this record was achieved as the number of customers using the extended trading hours service for U.S. stocks, introduced last year, has increased.

Previously, in May of last year, Yuanta Securities introduced a one-hour after-hours trading service and extended the pre-market trading hours by one hour to 2 hours and 30 minutes, allowing U.S. stock investors to respond quickly to earnings announcements. Including the regular trading hours of 6 hours and 30 minutes, investors can now trade U.S. stocks in real-time for a total of 10 hours (based on daylight saving time).

Yuanta Securities explained that customers use these extended trading hours in various ways. Analyzing frequently traded stocks and trading patterns, it was found that index and commodity leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and individual stocks with imminent earnings announcements dominated the trades. Patterns were also detected where investors significantly increased or decreased their holdings during volatile market conditions to seek profit opportunities or hedge risks.

Customers who mainly traded index and commodity ETFs were able to trade 2x or 3x leveraged ETFs, which offer similar effects to overseas futures but without the inconvenience of margin requirements and daily settlements, during the extended pre-market and after-hours sessions in addition to regular hours. Those focused on earnings announcements tended to buy just before and sell immediately after the announcements as a trading strategy.

Notably, in the past month, there has been a significant increase in trades where investors sold holdings during pre-market hours or bought stocks that had already declined before the market opened. This appears to be an effort to avoid increased market volatility caused by the spread of COVID-19 and the sharp drop in international oil prices. In fact, last month, the volume of pre-market and after-hours trading surged to $17 million.

These trades can be made without any additional procedures. For more details, refer to the Yuanta Securities website or contact the customer center. Jin-ho Jeon, Head of Digital Solutions at Yuanta Securities, said, “The extended trading hours service for U.S. stocks has proven to contribute to diversifying trading strategies by providing additional profit opportunities and enabling proactive responses during periods of rapid market changes. With the global stock markets experiencing significant volatility, we hope more U.S. stock investors will effectively utilize the extended trading hours as a flexible and swift tool to respond to market conditions.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.