Off-Hours Trading Surged at Peak of GameStop Frenzy

By Alexander Osipovich

Data on the Reddit-fueled frenzy over GameStop Corp. stock shows that an unusually large share of trading in the company's shares took place outside of regular trading hours.

On two days--Jan. 27 and 28--more than 20% of daily trading volume in GameStop took place in the pre-market or post-market trading sessions, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That was up from between 2% and 3% a week earlier, before frenetic trading in GameStop by individual investors sent shares of the videogame retailer skyrocketing. In December, off-hours trading accounted for about 6% of daily volume on average.

Pre-market trading runs from 4 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. ET, while post-market trading runs from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET. The two off-hours sessions are often marked by less liquidity than regular trading hours, which can set the stage for sharp swings in stock prices.

During the premarket session on Jan. 28, GameStop shares surged as high as $504.99, after having closed at $347.51 the previous day.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 03, 2021 13:43 ET (18:43 GMT)

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