Around-the-clock share trading arrives for UK investors: How it works
Key Points
- Plus500 launched 24/5 trading on stocks and ETFs during the first half of 2026, confirmed in its interim results on 10 August.
- The service covers hours outside the London Stock Exchange's 8am to 4.30pm session and the main US window of 2.30pm to 9pm UK time.
- Plus500 holds an FCA licence in the UK and offers more than 2,500 underlying instruments.
- 90% of the company's OTC revenue came from mobile and tablet trading in the period, up from 89%.
- The company calls extended-hours trading an industry-wide shift rather than a one-platform feature.
Plus500 has launched 24/5 trading on stocks and ETFs, opening up share dealing outside standard exchange hours from Monday to Friday.
The London-listed firm brought in the service during the first half of 2026 and confirmed it in its interim results, published on Monday (10 August). Plus500 holds a Financial Conduct Authority licence in the UK and runs its platforms on iOS, Android, Windows and through web browsers.
Standard exchange hours confine most share dealing to a narrow daily window.
The London Stock Exchange trades between 8am and 4.30pm, and the main US markets between 2.30pm and 9pm UK time. Extended-hours trading covers the gaps either side, letting customers respond to company announcements, economic releases and overnight news before the relevant exchange opens.
Plus500 described the move as part of a structural shift across the industry, with extended-hours trading accounting for a significant and growing share of global retail activity.
The company launched the offering alongside a wider expansion of its product range, including single stock futures introduced shortly after the end of June.
How UK customers are trading
Mobile devices now account for almost all of the company’s retail activity. In the first half of 2026, 90% of Plus500’s OTC revenue came from customers trading on phones or tablets, up from 89% a year earlier.
The platform’s OTC products are contracts for difference, which track the price of an asset without the customer owning it. Plus500 states that OTC customers cannot fall into a negative balance, and it supplies stop losses and risk management tools at no charge.
The company offers more than 2,500 underlying instruments, covering equities, indices, commodities, options, ETFs, foreign exchange and cryptocurrencies, to customers in more than 60 countries.
Plus500 holds 17 regulatory licences worldwide, including its FCA authorisation in the UK, and joined the London Stock Exchange in July 2013. It sits in the FTSE 250 Index.
