NASD Plans to Open Trading OTC at 4 a.m.

Marking the growing importance of global 24-hour trading, the National Assn. of Securities Dealers said today that it plans to begin trading 200 to 300 over-the-counter stocks at 4 a.m. Eastern time, with some of the trading directly competing with the London Stock Exchange.

The trading would involve the most active stocks traded on the NASDAQ computerized system and mark another push toward 24-hour global securities trading.

NASD President John Hardiman told the Wall Street Journal that the pre-dawn trading is expected to begin in the first quarter of 1990 but that plans for the system have not been completed.

12-Hour Schedule

The new system would mean trading from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. in New York and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in London. The U.S. over-the-counter market and major stock exchanges now trade from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time.

The NASD is the self-regulatory agency that oversees the national over-the-counter market, which does not have a centralized exchange or trading floor.

The OTC’s 5,100 stocks, which include many small issues, are traded electronically over the NASDAQ system, the nation’s second largest behind the New York Stock Exchange.

According to the Journal report, 71 stocks are traded on both the London exchange and over the counter in the United States.

Among the issues slated for pre-dawn trading are all 97 European stocks listed on the NASDAQ computerized exchange, including Jaguar, Cadbury Schweppes and Volvo. The plan would include such U.S. stocks as Apple Computer, Intel Corp. and MCI Communications Corp.