Robinhood to launch perps, weekend stock trading for US users

Robinhood, the popular online brokerage, announced on Tuesday (Sep 29) that it will allow users to trade certain U.S. stocks 24 hours a day during weekends. This move comes as part of a broader industry shift toward providing wider access and 24-hour trading opportunities. The expansion is seen as a key step in allowing U.S. markets to attract a larger pool of global capital while giving investors more flexibility in their trading activities.

Abhishek Fatehpuria, Robinhood's vice-president of product management, explained that the company's focus for the year is to make its platform the go-to choice for active traders by providing tools typically reserved for hedge funds and quantitative traders. Previously, Robinhood had offered round-the-clock trading during weekdays since 2023. Following its introduction, approximately 25% of the total daily trading volume on busy days came from outside traditional trading hours.

While some industry observers have expressed concerns about potential liquidity issues during non-traditional hours, global exchanges such as the Nasdaq and the London Stock Exchange are also moving forward with plans to extend their trading hours.

For the initial rollout, Robinhood will provide a curated list of stocks and exchange-traded funds for weekend trading, in partnership with overnight trading infrastructure firm Bruce ATS. The feature requires regulatory approval and will initially only be available to a select group of U.S. customers.

Additionally, Robinhood will introduce betting options on specific corporate earnings metrics through a partnership with derivatives exchange Cboe. Users can engage in prediction markets to place bets on whether a company will exceed earnings estimates or achieve a targeted revenue figure. This follows a trend seen at other platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi, which also offer betting opportunities on earnings outcomes.

Furthermore, Robinhood will enable users to trade perpetual futures, which do not have an expiration date, unlike traditional futures contracts. The company is also introducing AI agents within its app to execute trades on behalf of users, building upon its existing social trading platform, which was previously available to a beta group of U.S. customers.