New York Stock Exchange
The largest stock exchange in the world by the total market value of its listed companies. The NYSE is an auction market: alongside its electronic order book it retains designated market makers on a physical trading floor, whose job is to keep prices orderly in the stocks assigned to them. It has historically been the listing venue of choice for large, established industrial, financial and consumer businesses.
- Location
- 11 Wall Street, New York, United States
- Trading currency
- US dollar (USD)
- Trading hours
- 09:30 to 16:00, Monday to Friday
- Trading days
- Monday to Friday, excluding NYSE holidays
- Time zone
- Eastern Time (UTC−5, UTC−4 in daylight saving)
- Market capitalisation
- Approximately USD 28 trillion (2025)
- Listed companies
- Approximately 2,300 (2025)
- Settlement
- T+1 since May 2024, cleared through the National Securities Clearing Corporation and settled at The Depository Trust Company. Shares are held in street name by your broker unless you specifically request direct registration.
Top performing companies today
Ranked by the current session’s percentage move, strongest first, from the companies this platform covers on this venue.
Retrieving current-day prices for the companies covered on this venue…
What trades here
Major indices
- Dow Jones Industrial Average
- S&P 500
- NYSE Composite
Major listed companies
- Berkshire Hathaway
- JPMorgan Chase
- Visa
- Exxon Mobil
- Walmart
- Johnson & Johnson
Major sectors
- Financials
- Energy
- Industrials
- Healthcare
- Consumer staples
How the market works
Market structure
A hybrid auction market. Every listed security is assigned to a designated market maker who is obliged to quote continuously and to run the opening and closing auctions, alongside a fully electronic central limit order book. Listings sit on the NYSE main board, NYSE American for smaller companies, and NYSE Arca for exchange-traded products.
Trading mechanisms
An opening auction at 09:30 and a closing auction at 16:00 bracket continuous electronic trading. Pre-market runs from 04:00 and post-market to 20:00 on most brokers. Market-wide circuit breakers halt trading at 7%, 13% and 20% declines in the S&P 500, and individual securities are subject to limit up-limit down bands.
Listing requirements
Main-board admission requires meeting one of several financial standards — for example aggregate pre-tax earnings of USD 10 million over three years, or a global market capitalisation test — plus at least 400 round-lot holders, 1.1 million publicly held shares, a USD 4.00 minimum price, and compliance with the NYSE Listed Company Manual on independent directors, audit committee and disclosure.
Settlement
T+1 since May 2024, cleared through the National Securities Clearing Corporation and settled at The Depository Trust Company. Shares are held in street name by your broker unless you specifically request direct registration.
Regulatory authority
US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Brokers are additionally members of FINRA, the industry self-regulator.
How to invest in this market
What it takes to open an account and deal on NYSE, separated by where you live — the two answers are rarely the same, and on some markets they are not even the same process.
Domestic investors
Residents of United States
Straightforward. Any US resident aged 18 or over can open a brokerage account online, usually in a single session, and most mainstream brokers charge no commission on US-listed shares.
- A brokerage account with a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA and SIPC (SIPC covers securities up to USD 500,000 if the broker fails — it does not cover market losses).
- Identity verification under the USA PATRIOT Act: legal name, date of birth, residential address and Social Security number or ITIN.
- Form W-9 to certify your taxpayer identification number, so dividends are not subject to backup withholding.
- No statutory minimum capital for a cash account. A margin account requires USD 2,000 under FINRA rules, and pattern day traders must hold USD 25,000.
- Tax: dividends and realised gains are reportable annually on Form 1099-B/1099-DIV. Long-term gains (held over a year) are taxed at preferential federal rates; state tax may also apply.
Foreign investors
Open to foreign investors
The United States is one of the most open equity markets in the world for non-residents. No registration with the SEC is required to buy listed shares, and most large brokers accept non-resident clients — the practical constraint is usually the broker's own onboarding policy for your country of residence, not US law.
- An account with a US broker that accepts non-resident aliens (Interactive Brokers, Charles Schwab International and others), or with a local broker in your own country that offers US market access.
- Passport and proof of address for identity verification.
- Form W-8BEN, valid for three calendar years, certifying that you are not a US person. Without it, dividends are withheld at 30%.
- Tax: US dividends are withheld at 30%, reduced by treaty — commonly 15% where your country has a double-taxation agreement with the United States, and the W-8BEN is what claims that rate. Capital gains on listed shares are generally not taxed by the United States for non-residents, but are usually taxable where you live.
- US estate tax can apply to US-situs assets held directly by non-residents above a low threshold; investors with large holdings commonly take advice on this point.
Foreign ownership limits
No general limit on foreign ownership of listed shares. Sector-specific caps apply in a few industries — broadcast licensees and US airlines among them — and large stakes in sensitive sectors can be reviewed by CFIUS.
Currency considerations
Everything trades and settles in US dollars. Your broker will convert on funding and on repatriation, and the spread on that conversion is often a larger cost than the commission.
Regulated routes to an account
- Charles SchwabUS residents; Schwab International serves some non-US clients.
- Fidelity InvestmentsUS residents.
- Interactive BrokersAccepts clients in most countries; multi-currency accounts.
Licensed intermediaries and official exchange platforms, listed to show the regulated routes into this market. This is not a recommendation and not an exhaustive list — check any firm against the regulator’s register before opening an account.
Verify before you act
Why this market matters
Why investors follow it
It hosts many of the world’s largest and oldest companies, so its indices are a standard proxy for the health of the global economy. Its opening and closing auctions set reference prices that flow into index funds and derivatives worldwide.
Interesting facts
- Traces its origin to the 1792 Buttonwood Agreement, signed by 24 brokers under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street.
- It is the last major exchange to retain a staffed physical trading floor alongside full electronic execution.
- The closing auction is one of the largest concentrations of liquidity in world markets, as index funds rebalance at the official close.
Official sources