> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://support.backpack.exchange/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://support.backpack.exchange/backpack-securities/trading-hours-and-fees.md). # Trading Hours & Fees Backpack Securities follows the full U.S. equities schedule, so you can trade across the overnight, pre-market, regular, and after-hours sessions — not just during the standard 9:30am–4:00pm window. Stocks settle in **USD** and draw from the same balance as the rest of your account: there's no separate stocks wallet to top up and no separate brokerage balance to manage. This page covers **when** you can trade and **what it costs** — the session schedule, how to read the market status indicator, how a buy is funded, and how fees work. *** #### Trading hours All times in this section are **U.S. Eastern Time (ET)**. This explains each session, how to tell at a glance which one is active, and what changes outside regular hours. **The sessions**
SessionEastern TimeDaysWhat you can trade
Overnight8:00pm – 4:00amSun night → Fri morningWhole shares only
Pre-market4:00am – 9:30amMon – FriWhole shares only
Regular hours9:30am – 4:00pmMon – FriWhole and fractional shares
After-hours4:00pm – 8:00pmMon – FriWhole shares only
Weekend&HolidaysFri 8:00pm → Sun 8:00pm, and U.S. market holidaysVariesEligible securities (whole and fractional shares)
{% hint style="info" %} **Note:**\ Most securities trade continuously from **Sunday 8:00pm ET through Friday 8:00pm ET** across the overnight, pre-market, regular, and after-hours sessions. **Some eligible securities also support weekend trading.** Weekend availability depends on the individual security. See [**Weekend Stock Trading** ](/backpack-securities/weekend-stock-trading.md)for details. {% endhint %} **Reading the market status indicator** Every Backpack Securities page shows a **market status indicator** — a small colored dot with a label that tells you which session is live right now: * **Market Open** — regular hours * **Pre-market** * **After-hours** * **Overnight** When a session is active, the dot pulses. Hover over it to open a trading-hours tooltip: a colored timeline showing each session's range, with the Eastern Time hours automatically converted to your local timezone. When the market is closed, the indicator also shows a countdown — for example, "3h 12m till Trading" — so you know when the next session begins. You'll find the same indicator on the Backpack Securities home page and on the header of any individual stock's page.
**Whole vs. fractional shares** Whether you can buy a fraction of a share depends on the session. {% hint style="info" %} Fractional shares are available during regular market hours (9:30 am –4:00 pm ET, Monday–Friday), as well as during weekend trading and market holiday trading for eligible securities. {% endhint %} If fractional shares aren't supported during the current trading session, the order form will display a message like: > Fractional shares are only available during market hours. To trade now, buy in whole shares. To place the trade right away, round to a whole number of shares, or wait until the next trading session that supports fractional shares. For the full order walkthrough, see [How to Buy & Sell Stocks on Web.](/backpack-securities/how-to-buy-and-sell-stocks-on-web.md) **The overnight session** Yes — stocks really do trade after 8:00pm. Backpack Securities includes an **overnight session** that runs from **8:00pm to 4:00am ET**, Sunday night through Friday morning. It's whole-shares-only, and pricing is wider than during regular hours (more on that below), but it does run. The market status indicator will read "Overnight" and pulse while it's active. **Why pricing changes outside regular hours** Backpack Securities is quote-based: when you preview an order, you see a live quote that reflects current market conditions and available liquidity. Outside regular hours there's **less liquidity in the market**, so quotes are naturally wider — the gap between buy and sell pricing widens, especially overnight. This isn't a Backpack fee; it reflects the state of the underlying market at that time. There's no separate commission on stock trades (see Funding & fees below), and if you'd prefer the tightest pricing, trade during **regular hours**, when liquidity is deepest. **Holidays, early closes, and weekends** You don't need to track the market calendar yourself — these are handled automatically: * **U.S. market holidays.** Some eligible securities remain available during market holiday trading. Availability depends on the individual security. * **Early-close days.** On days the U.S. market closes early, regular hours end earlier and the after-hours session begins earlier, in step with the official schedule. * **Weekends.** Some eligible securities remain available during weekend trading. Availability depends on the individual security. If you try to trade a security outside its available trading sessions, you may see a "No quote available" message. This usually means the security isn't currently available for trading. *** #### Funding & fees Your stock trades draw from the same balance as the rest of your account — buying a stock spends your available USD, and selling one returns USD to that same balance. This covers how a buy is funded, what "available" means, and how fees work today. **Funding a buy** When you buy a stock, it's funded from your **available USD**. The order form shows this on the **Available** row, and on the buy side you'll see quick-amount badges — **25%**, **50%**, **75%**, and **Max** — that fill in a portion of that available balance for you. (Badges are dimmed if your balance isn't enough for them.)
A few things are worth knowing about what counts toward that balance. **Lent USD counts as available** If your USD is sitting in Backpack's lending pool, you don't need to redeem it before buying a stock. It's automatically pulled back to fund the purchase, and the **Available** balance shown on the order form already includes your lent USD. You can buy in one step. **No margin or borrowing on stock buys** Backpack won't automatically borrow USD to fund a stock purchase, and there's no margin toggle on the stock order form. Stock buys use USD you actually hold (including lent USD, as above) — they can't be auto-borrowed against. If you do want to buy with borrowed USD, you can do it manually: turn **Auto Lend** off, borrow the USD you want through Backpack's lend/borrow product, and then place your stock order. The usual borrowing rules apply to that loan, but the stock holding itself isn't traded on margin. {% hint style="info" %} **Your stocks can't be used as collateral** for other positions right now. A stock balance doesn't count toward margin and can't back a perp or other borrowed position — so a stock you hold can't be force-liquidated and doesn't put your other balances at risk. {% endhint %} **Selling returns USD** Selling a stock returns USD to your available balance. Because everything settles in USD, the proceeds land right back in the same balance you funded the buy from — ready to redeploy into another trade, lend out, or withdraw normally. Selling is also how you exit a position today. For more on holding and exiting, see Your Holdings, Dividends & Corporate Actions. **Fees: no separate commission** There's **no separate commission or platform fee** on stock trades — the price you preview and confirm is the price you pay. You aren't billed anything separately. When you reach the **Preview** step, the **Estimated Price**, **Subtotal**, and **Total** you see are what you trade at. There's nothing extra added after. {% hint style="info" %} **Why do prices look a little wider outside regular hours?** There's less liquidity overnight, pre-market, and after-hours, so quotes are naturally wider then — especially overnight. That's expected market behavior, not an extra charge. See Trading hours above for the session schedule. {% endhint %} **Is there a minimum?** During **regular U.S. market hours**, you can trade fractional shares down to **0.01 of a share**, in 0.01-share steps. **Eligible securities also support fractional shares during weekend and market holiday trading.** During **overnight, pre-market, and after-hours** sessions, the minimum order size is **1 whole share**. Every order must be worth at least **$1**. **Funding & fees at a glance** | Topic | How it works | | -------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Settlement currency | USD | | Funding a buy | Your available USD — lent USD is auto-counted and pulled back as needed | | Margin / borrowing | No margin on stock buys; manually borrow USD (Auto Lend off) if you want to | | Stocks as collateral | Not available — stock balances don't back other positions | | Selling | Returns USD to your available balance | | Fees | No separate commission or platform fee | | Minimum order | 0.01 share during regular market hours, and during weekend and market holiday trading for eligible securities; 1 whole share during overnight, pre-market, and after-hours sessions; $1 minimum order value | *** #### Quick reference
Can I trade stocks 24/7? Most securities trade continuously from Sunday 8:00pm ET through Friday 8:00pm ET across the overnight, pre-market, regular, and after-hours sessions. Eligible securities may also be available during weekend and market holiday trading. Availability depends on the individual security.
Why can't I buy a fractional share right now? **Fractional shares are available during regular market hours (9:30 am –4:00 pm ET, Monday–Friday), as well as during weekend and market holiday trading for eligible securities.** For securities that don't support weekend or market holiday trading, only whole-share quantities are supported during overnight, pre-market, and after-hours sessions. To trade immediately, round your order to a whole share, or wait until the next trading session where fractional shares are available.
Why does pricing look wider overnight or in pre-market? There's less liquidity outside regular hours, so quotes are naturally wider — especially overnight. Trading during regular hours generally gives you the tightest pricing.
What does the market status indicator tell me? It shows which session is live right now (Market Open, Pre-market, After-hours, Overnight) and pulses when active. Hover over it for a session timeline in your local time, plus a countdown to the next opening when the market is closed.
What does it cost to trade a stock? There's no separate commission or platform fee. The price you see in the order form is the price you trade at — nothing is added after.
Can I buy a stock with borrowed USD? Not automatically — there's no margin or auto-borrow on stock buys. If you want to, you can do it manually: turn Auto Lend off, borrow the USD through Backpack's lend/borrow product, then place your order. The stock holding itself isn't traded on margin, and stocks can't be used as collateral for other positions.
*** For how the full trade flow works step by step, see [How to Buy & Sell Stocks on Web](/backpack-securities/how-to-buy-and-sell-stocks-on-web.md). To browse what's available first, head to [Finding & Researching Stocks](/backpack-securities/finding-and-researching-stocks.md). For how your holdings and the regulated brokers behind them work, see [Real Ownership & Legal Framework.](/backpack-securities/real-ownership-and-legal-framework.md) For more questions, see the [FAQ](/backpack-securities/faqs.md). --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://support.backpack.exchange/backpack-securities/trading-hours-and-fees.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.