Limit order might not be filled during extended-hours Trading in US market (2024)

FAQs

Limit order might not be filled during extended-hours Trading in US market? ›

During extended-hours trading, orders may not fill or have limited tradability due to lower volume and wider price spreads as compared to trading during regular market hours (9:30 AM–4 PM ET).

For example, when you placed a limit sell order during pre-market, you might see the market price was higher than your order price, but your order didn't get filled. It's because your order was sent to a different exchange/market maker which can't provide the same price you see from market data for execution.

Why Might a Limit Order Not Get Filled? A buy limit order won't get filled if the price of the underlying asset jumps above the order's stated price. This is because the limit price is the maximum amount the investor is willing to pay. In the case of a gap, that price would now be below the market price.

Yes. After-hours trading allows for stocks to be traded after the stock market's regular hours. However, investors should be prepared for their orders to not be filled as quickly (or even at all) due to the lower trading volume during these extended market hours.

Unlike market orders, limit orders will not automatically fill once your desired price has been reached. Limit orders are two-sided, meaning that the order will need to be filled by another user. This means that there is no guaranteed or specific timeframe for when your order will be filled.

The purpose of limit sell orders is to sell shares at the current market price or higher. The exchanges (ie. Nasdaq and NYSE) have automated checks in place to cancel an order if the price you entered is too far below the current market price that it looks like a mistake.

Generally, stop-limit orders will only trigger during a standard market session that lasts between 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST. It means that stop-limit orders will not trigger outside the standard market session – such as after-hours or pre-market hours, weekends, market holidays, or when the stock halts.

The order is not triggered until the specific desired market price is achieved. Even then, execution of the limit order is not guaranteed, especially in highly volatile markets or regarding highly volatile securities with low liquidity.

What Happens If a Buy Limit Order Is Not Executed? If a buy limit order is not executed, it will expire unfilled. The order could expire at the end of the trading day or, in the case of a good 'til canceled (GTC) order, it will expire once the trader cancels it.

Your order won't be filled if there aren't enough shares available at the specified price or number. This occurs most frequently with large orders placed on low-volume securities. Keep in mind that there must be a buyer and seller on both sides of the trade for an order to execute.

Do market or limit orders get filled first? ›

Market orders often execute right away at whatever price the market is charging. Limit orders won't trigger until the market price meets whatever price the investor is looking for. Limit orders won't fill in some cases because the market price may never meet the limit price specified.

No market for the security – A market order cannot execute when no bid or ask exists. If you want to sell 100 shares of a stock, but there are currently no bids to buy, your order will not execute. Likewise, if you entered an order to buy but no offers were made to sell shares, the buy order would not execute.

Extended Hours Sessions. Orders can be placed at any time and will only be executed from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Pre-Market: Orders can be placed between 8:05 p.m. (previous trading day) and 9:25 a.m. ET and will be eligible for execution between 7:00 a.m. and 9:25 a.m. ET.

A limit order is an order to buy or sell a stock with a restriction on the maximum price to be paid (with a buy limit) or the minimum price to be received (with a sell limit). If the order is filled, it will only be at the specified limit price or better.

A partial fill happens when only a portion of a limit order is executed, the share price surpasses the specified limit order target during the trade. In this instance shares will only be exchanged up to the price on the limit order, and the rest remain unfilled.

Fractional shares, limit, and stop orders are still available to be placed at any time. You may have noticed that placing full share Market Orders is no longer available during off-market hours (times when the stock market is closed).

Low volume and open interest

Low trading volume can prevent orders from being filled since every order needs a buyer matched with a seller. Blue-chip companies and other large corporations typically have plenty of volume throughout the day.

One of the primary reasons why premarket orders may not fill is due to a lack of liquidity in the market during extended trading hours. Liquidity refers to the ease with which an asset can be bought or sold without causing a significant change in price.

If there aren't enough shares in the market at your limit price, it may take multiple trades to fill the entire order, or the order may not be filled at all. Depending on the final price your order is filled at, the final dollar amount of your order may change from what is estimated in the app.