Yes, you can place stock buy orders after the close, but execution depends on your broker, your order type, and whether you’re using extended-hours trading.
You see a headline at night. Earnings drop at 4:05 p.m. ET. A stock starts moving. Then the classic question hits: can you still buy, even though the market is “closed”?
You can, in a few different ways. Some methods send your order straight into an after-hours session. Others park your order in a queue so it can try to fill at the next open. Both can work. Both can also surprise you if you don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes.
This piece shows what your broker can do with an order placed outside regular hours, what prices you might get, and which settings reduce nasty surprises.
What “Market Closed” Means In Real Life
In the U.S., “regular trading hours” for major exchanges are 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. Exchanges also publish holiday calendars and early closes, so “closed” can mean more than a weekend. The New York Stock Exchange keeps an official schedule on its Holidays & Trading Hours page.
Outside that 9:30–4:00 window, trading can still happen through “extended hours” sessions, most commonly called pre-market and after-hours. Those sessions are not identical to the main session. Fewer participants show up, quotes can be thinner, and some order types get restricted.
Also, “the market” is not one thing. Your broker routes orders to venues. Some venues run after-hours sessions. Some do not. Some brokers also run their own internal matching systems for certain products. That’s why two people can place the same order at 7:00 p.m. and get different results.
Can I Buy Stocks When The Market Is Closed? And What Changes After 4 P.M.
Yes. You can submit an order any time, but there are two main outcomes:
- Queued for the next regular session: Your order sits until the market reopens, then it tries to execute under regular-hours rules.
- Sent into extended-hours trading: Your order can execute outside regular hours if your broker offers it and the security is eligible.
The detail that matters is how your order is set up. A market order placed at night might not behave the way you assume. A limit order often gives you more control, but it can also sit unfilled if the price never touches your limit.
How Brokers Handle Orders Placed After Hours
Outcome 1: Your Order Waits For The Next Open
If you place a standard order outside regular hours and you do not choose an extended-hours session, many brokers simply hold the order and send it when the primary session opens. In that case, your fill price depends on what the market is doing at 9:30 a.m. ET, not what you saw the night before.
That can feel unfair when prices move overnight. It’s not a broker trick. It’s just timing. If the best available price at the open is higher than you expected, a buy market order can fill higher. If the price gaps down, you may get a lower fill than you expected.
Outcome 2: Your Order Trades In Extended Hours
If your broker offers extended-hours trading and you opt in, you may be able to trade in the after-hours session (and also pre-market). Nasdaq publishes a plain-language summary of its extended sessions on its Stock Market Trading Hours For Nasdaq page.
Extended-hours sessions come with trade-offs. The prices you see can change fast, and the gap between the bid and ask can widen. FINRA’s Rule 2265 requires brokers to provide customers with a disclosure about risks tied to extended-hours trading, including price differences and lower liquidity. You can read the rule text at FINRA Rule 2265.
So yes, you can buy. The smarter question is: should you place the order now, or set it up to execute later with tighter guardrails?
Order Types That Work Best Outside Regular Hours
Outside regular hours, control matters more because quotes can be thinner and price jumps can be sharper. That’s why many brokers push limit orders in extended sessions.
Limit Orders Give You A Price Ceiling
A limit order sets the highest price you’ll pay (for a buy) or the lowest price you’ll accept (for a sell). If the market never hits your number, the order can remain unfilled. The SEC explains this clearly on its page about Limit Orders.
In extended hours, a limit order helps you avoid a surprise fill at a price you didn’t expect. It does not guarantee a fill. It just draws a line in the sand.
Market Orders Can Be Risky After Hours
A market order is built to execute right away at the best available price. That sounds simple. In extended hours, “best available” can swing more than you’d guess, even on large stocks, because fewer orders are sitting on the book.
If you’re placing a buy outside regular hours and you still want a fast fill, many traders choose a limit order set near the current ask instead of a market order. It’s not foolproof, but it reduces the chance of paying a much higher price than you saw on screen.
What You See On The Screen vs. The Price You Get
Most apps show a last traded price, and that number can be stale during thin trading. The price you can actually buy at is the ask. The price you can sell at is the bid. The gap between them is the spread.
During the main session, spreads can be tight because lots of participants are competing. After hours, spreads can widen. That means two things:
- A small order can move the price more than you expect.
- Your fill can land at a price that feels “off” versus the last trade you noticed.
Before you send any after-hours order, glance at the bid and ask, not just the last price. If your broker shows Level 2 quotes, even better.
Broker Settings That Decide Whether You Trade Or Wait
Most broker order tickets include at least one of these choices:
- Session: Regular hours, extended hours, or “all sessions” (wording varies).
- Time-in-force: Day, good-til-canceled (GTC), or specific variants like “day+ext.”
- Order type: Market, limit, stop, stop-limit (availability varies after hours).
The session toggle is the big one. If you place an order at 7:30 p.m. ET and you do not select an extended-hours session, you may be waiting for the next open even if the app lets you press “Submit.”
Extended Hours Trading Risks People Miss
Extended sessions can be useful, but there are a few traps that repeat:
Lower Liquidity And Wider Spreads
Less volume can mean fewer chances to match your order at a price you like. A limit order helps, but it can also mean you sit unfilled while the chart looks like it’s moving.
Price Gaps Between Sessions
A stock can trade at one level at 7:00 p.m. ET and open at a different level the next morning. News, analyst notes, and global market moves can all shift the opening auction. If you queue a market order overnight, you’re accepting whatever the open brings.
Order Type Limits
Many brokers restrict certain orders in extended sessions. Stops and trailing stops often behave differently or are disabled. If you rely on stop orders for risk control, double-check how your broker treats them outside regular hours.
Table: What Happens To Your Order After The Close
| Order Setup | What Usually Happens | What To Watch |
|---|---|---|
| Market order placed after 4:00 p.m. ET (regular session only) | Held, then sent at next open | Open price can gap up or down |
| Limit order placed after 4:00 p.m. ET (regular session only) | Held, then works at next open up to your limit | May not fill if the open is above your limit |
| Limit order with after-hours session enabled | Can execute in after-hours if liquidity exists | Spreads can widen; partial fills can happen |
| Market order with after-hours session enabled (if broker allows) | Can execute right away in after-hours | Fill price can swing if quotes are thin |
| Good-til-canceled (GTC) limit order | Stays active until filled or canceled, under broker rules | Corporate actions and broker policies can cancel/adjust |
| Fractional share order after hours | May queue until a broker execution window | Some brokers fill fractionals only in set times |
| Stop or stop-limit order placed after hours | Often triggers only in regular hours, broker-dependent | Stops can trigger on next session’s prices |
| Market-on-open or limit-on-open order | Executes at the opening auction (if accepted) | Useful when you want the open, not after-hours prints |
When Buying After Hours Can Make Sense
Extended-hours access exists for a reason. There are moments when it fits:
- Earnings releases after the bell: If you want a shot at the early reaction, after-hours sessions are where that first wave happens.
- Risk control before the next open: If you already hold a position and news breaks, after-hours trading can let you reduce exposure instead of waiting.
- Placing a limit order with clear boundaries: If you have a price in mind and you’re calm about missing the trade if it never hits, a limit order can be a clean tool.
Still, “can” is not the same as “should.” The more urgent you feel, the more you should slow down and check spreads, order settings, and the session you’re using.
Practical Steps Before You Click “Buy” Outside Regular Hours
- Confirm the session toggle. Make sure your order is set to after-hours or pre-market if you want an immediate attempt to fill.
- Use a limit order. Pick a price you can live with. If the stock never trades there, let it go.
- Check bid/ask, not last trade. If the spread is wide, think twice or tighten your limit.
- Watch for partial fills. In thin trading, you may fill some shares and not the rest.
- Read your broker’s extended-hours disclosure. Brokers provide this for a reason, and it often answers “why did my order behave like that?”
How Overnight Queues Can Surprise You
Let’s say you place a buy limit order at 7:00 p.m. ET and you do not enable after-hours trading. The app accepts it. You go to sleep thinking it’s working. In many cases, it’s not live yet. It’s waiting.
At 9:30 a.m. ET, the market opens. If the stock opens above your limit, you won’t fill. If it opens at or below your limit, you can fill right away. If it opens below your limit by a wide margin, you still fill at the best available price up to your limit, which can be better than you expected.
This is why people sometimes wake up thinking their broker “ignored” them. The broker didn’t ignore the order. The order was set to a session that was not running at the time.
Table: Common Scenarios And The Cleanest Move
| Situation | What Tends To Work | Why It Helps |
|---|---|---|
| Big news hits at 4:10 p.m. ET and you want in | After-hours limit order near the current ask | Sets a ceiling so thin quotes don’t whipsaw your fill |
| You want to buy “tomorrow” but at a set price | Limit order for regular hours (day or GTC) | You avoid after-hours noise and still control price |
| You fear a gap up and you don’t care about price | Re-think, then use a limit anyway | Even a loose ceiling reduces the worst-case fill |
| You’re trading a thinly traded stock or small cap | Regular hours limit order | Liquidity is often better in the main session |
| You only have a few dollars and use fractionals | Check broker fractional execution rules | Fractionals may not fill instantly after hours |
| You use stop orders for downside control | Confirm stop behavior outside regular hours | Stops can trigger differently when sessions change |
What To Know If You’re Outside The U.S.
If you live in Europe or elsewhere, the clock is the sneaky part. U.S. market times are published in Eastern Time. Your broker may display local time, or it may not. If you trade from Helsinki, regular U.S. hours often run into your evening, and after-hours can push later at night.
The clean approach is to anchor everything to Eastern Time, then let your platform convert. When you see “4:00 p.m. ET close,” treat that as the reference point, even if your phone shows a different clock.
A Simple Rule For Cleaner Fills
If you place orders when the main session is closed, default to this mindset:
- If you want control, use a limit order.
- If you want the main session, don’t enable extended hours.
- If you want after-hours action, enable the session and still use a limit.
That won’t remove all risk. It does remove the most common self-inflicted wounds: unintended session settings and price-blind market orders.
References & Sources
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).“Holidays & Trading Hours.”Official regular-hours schedule plus holiday and early-close timing.
- Nasdaq.“Stock Market Trading Hours For Nasdaq.”Summary of regular and extended trading session hours used by many brokers.
- FINRA.“FINRA Rule 2265: Extended Hours Trading Risk Disclosure.”Rule requiring brokers to deliver risk disclosures tied to extended-hours trading.
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).“Limit Orders.”Explains how limit orders work and why execution is not guaranteed.