Stock Markets Agree to Distinguish After-Hours and Regular-Session Trades

Washington, DC, October 6, 2000 - The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that the stock markets that comprise the Consolidated Tape Association (CTA) have agreed to implement a plan to help investors distinguish between after-hours and regular-session stock trades.

Specifically, the CTA is implementing two initiatives to assist pricing vendors and the media in distinguishing after-hours and regular-session stock prices. The first initiative involves issuing a daily 4:15 p.m. Eastern market summary that gives a "snapshot" of the market after the end of the regular trading session. The second initiative involves the addition by CTA participants of a mechanism to identify after-hours trades on the consolidated tape.

In particular, the CTA participants decided that a "T" modifier should be added to after-hours trade reports. The modifier will enable pricing vendors and the media to segregate after-hours transactions from end-of-day stock price summaries that reflect regular-session trading activity.

The CTA plan responds to investor and issuer concerns about end-of-day securities prices.