Unbeatable Overnight Gains Fuel Theories on Who’s Driving Them
- SPY posting larger gains outside of normal U.S. trading hours
- Overnight strength could be due to market structure quirk
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U.S. stock traders can thank their late-night counterparts for powering this year’s rally.
The bulk of the S&P 500’s historic rebound from the March lows has been driven by after-hours trading, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A strategy of buying the SPDR S&P 500 exchange-traded fund at the close of trading in New York and selling it at the next day’s open has gained 39% since March 23. That compares to just 9% for those buy the ETF at the start of Wall Street trading hours and sell at the close.