Glossary
Nasdaq
A US electronic stock exchange, home to many technology companies, and the name of its main indexes such as the Nasdaq-100.
Nasdaq is one of the two major US stock exchanges, alongside the New York Stock Exchange, and the name of the company that runs it. It began trading in 1971 as the world's first electronic stock market, with no trading floor, and became a registered national securities exchange in 2006. Many of the largest technology and growth companies list there, which is why "the Nasdaq" is often used as shorthand for tech stocks.
How the exchange is organized
Nasdaq-listed companies sit in one of three tiers with rising standards: the Nasdaq Capital Market for smaller companies, the Nasdaq Global Market, and the Nasdaq Global Select Market for the largest. Trading is fully electronic. Many competing market makers and other participants post quotes, and orders match in the exchange's order book, with opening and closing crosses (auctions) setting the official open and close.
As of October 2026, Nasdaq runs a pre-market session from 4:00 to 9:30 a.m. ET, the regular session from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and a post-market session to 8:00 p.m. It plans an overnight session from 9:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m., targeted for December 6, 2026, pending industry readiness and regulatory steps.
The indexes that share its name
- The Nasdaq Composite includes essentially all common stocks listed on Nasdaq, several thousand companies, weighted by market value.
- The Nasdaq-100 holds about 100 of the largest non-financial companies listed there and is tracked by some of the most heavily traded ETFs.