Is the Stock Market Open Today? NYSE and Nasdaq Hours, Holidays and Early Closes

The US stock market is open from 9:30am to 4pm Eastern Time, Monday to Friday, except on ten market holidays a year and a handful of early-close days. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq follow the same holiday calendar, so if one is shut, the other almost always is too. This guide sets out regular and extended trading hours, the remaining 2026 holidays, the full 2027 calendar and the quirks, such as bond-market closures, that catch investors out.

Is the Stock Market Open Today?

On an ordinary weekday the answer is yes. The core trading session on both the NYSE and Nasdaq runs from 9:30am to 4pm Eastern Time (ET), which is 6:30am to 1pm on the US West Coast and 2:30pm to 9pm in London for most of the year. Markets are closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

The exceptions are the exchange holidays published each year by NYSE Group, part of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), and the early-close sessions around Thanksgiving, Christmas and, in some years, Independence Day. On an early-close day, the core session ends at 1pm ET.

A quick rule: if it is a federal holiday that falls on a Monday in winter or spring, check the calendar. Some federal holidays close the stock market and others do not.

What Are the Stock Market Holidays for the Rest of 2026?

According to the calendar NYSE Group published in December 2025, two full-day holidays and two early closes remain in 2026:

• Thursday 26 November 2026: Thanksgiving Day, markets closed
• Friday 27 November 2026: early close at 1pm ET (the day after Thanksgiving, also Black Friday)
• Thursday 24 December 2026: early close at 1pm ET (Christmas Eve)
• Friday 25 December 2026: Christmas Day, markets closed

New Year’s Day 2027 falls on a Friday, so markets will be closed on 1 January 2027 and reopen on Monday 4 January.

What Are the Stock Market Holidays in 2027?

The 2027 NYSE holiday calendar, which Nasdaq mirrors, is as follows:

• New Year’s Day: Friday 1 January
• Martin Luther King Jr Day: Monday 18 January
• Washington’s Birthday (Presidents’ Day): Monday 15 February
• Good Friday: 26 March
• Memorial Day: Monday 31 May
• Juneteenth National Independence Day: Friday 18 June
• Independence Day (observed): Monday 5 July
• Labor Day: Monday 6 September
• Thanksgiving Day: Thursday 25 November
• Christmas Day (observed): Friday 24 December

The only early close NYSE has listed for 2027 is Friday 26 November, the day after Thanksgiving, when trading ends at 1pm ET. Because Christmas Day 2027 falls on a Saturday, the holiday is observed on Friday 24 December, so there is no separate Christmas Eve half-day.

Looking further ahead, New Year’s Day 2028 falls on a Saturday. Under NYSE rules, a Saturday holiday is normally observed on the preceding Friday, but the exchange does not close on the last trading day of the year, so there is no New Year’s holiday closure in the 2028 calendar.

Why Is the Stock Market Open on Some Federal Holidays?

The exchange calendar is not the same as the federal calendar. Two federal holidays are normal trading days for stocks:

• Columbus Day / Indigenous Peoples’ Day (second Monday in October): stock markets open
• Veterans Day (11 November): stock markets open

On both days, however, the US bond market usually closes, because the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) recommends a full close for Treasury and other bond trading. Banks and the Federal Reserve’s payment systems are also shut, which can delay transfers into a brokerage account even though you can still place trades.

Good Friday works the other way round. It is not a federal holiday, but the NYSE and Nasdaq close for it, while bond markets often run a shortened session.

What Are Pre-Market and After-Hours Trading Hours?

Outside the core session, many brokers offer extended-hours trading through electronic venues:

• Pre-market: typically from 4am to 9:30am ET on Nasdaq-linked venues, though many brokers only open their pre-market window at 7am or 8am
• After-hours: typically from 4pm to 8pm ET

Extended-hours trading carries extra risks. Fewer buyers and sellers are active, so prices can move sharply and the gap between the bid and ask price is often wider. Many brokers only accept limit orders outside regular hours, and some order types, such as stop orders, may not apply. If you trade around earnings releases, which companies often publish just before 9:30am or just after 4pm, expect volatile prices.

Both NYSE and Nasdaq have announced plans to extend trading towards near-24-hour weekday sessions, subject to regulatory approval and market infrastructure changes. Until your broker confirms any new hours, assume the standard schedule above applies.

What Happens to My Orders When the Market Is Closed?

If you place an order on a weekend or holiday, your broker will usually queue it until the next session. A market order placed on Saturday will execute at whatever price is available when trading resumes, which may be very different from Friday’s close if news broke in between. A limit order lets you set the maximum you will pay or the minimum you will accept, which protects you from an unexpected opening gap.

Settlement also pauses. Since May 2024, most US stock trades settle one business day after the trade (T+1). A trade on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving therefore settles on Friday, not Thursday, because the holiday does not count as a business day.

Are Other Markets Open When US Stocks Are Closed?

Often, yes. Stock futures on the CME Group’s Globex platform trade almost round the clock from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon, with their own holiday schedule and shortened sessions. Cryptocurrency markets never close at all. Foreign exchanges keep their own calendars: the London Stock Exchange, for example, is open on US Thanksgiving but closed on UK bank holidays such as Boxing Day.

That is why US-listed exchange-traded funds can open sharply higher or lower after a holiday: they catch up with moves that have already happened in futures and overseas markets. If you invest through funds, our guide to index funds vs ETFs explains how each type is priced during the day.

How Do Market Holidays Affect Long-Term Investors?

For most people saving for retirement through regular contributions, market holidays make almost no difference. Automatic investments scheduled for a holiday simply process on the next business day. The days that matter more are those with major scheduled news, such as Federal Reserve decisions. The Fed’s next meeting concludes on 9 December 2026; for the background, see our report on the Fed’s October 2026 decision to hold rates.

Practical tips for the holiday season:

• Move money early: bank transfers can take one to three business days, and bank holidays add delays
• Watch thin trading on half-days: volumes on 27 November and 24 December are usually light, which can exaggerate price moves
• Check deadlines: the last trading day of 2026 is Thursday 31 December, which matters for tax-loss sales and required minimum distributions
• Use tax-advantaged accounts wisely: contribution deadlines for an IRA run to the tax-filing deadline, not 31 December; see our guide to the Roth IRA vs traditional IRA

How Can I Check Whether the Market Is Open?

The most reliable source is the exchange itself. NYSE publishes holidays and trading hours on its “Holidays and Trading Hours” page, and Nasdaq posts an equivalent calendar. Your broker’s app will also show a banner on holidays and early-close days. Be wary of third-party calendars that have not been updated: exchanges occasionally add unscheduled closures, as happened for national days of mourning after the deaths of former presidents.

In short: weekdays, 9:30am to 4pm ET; closed on 26 November and 25 December 2026 and on 1 January 2027; half-days on 27 November and 24 December 2026.

Featured image: New York Stock Exchange trading floor on Wall Street, New York, New York LCCN2011634218, by Carol M. Highsmith / Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Cropped, colour-graded and combined with MediaPavilion branding.

Sources

• NYSE Group / ICE — NYSE Group Announces 2026, 2027 and 2028 Holiday and Early Closings Calendar (23 December 2025).
• NYSE — Holidays and Trading Hours (2026).
• Nasdaq — Stock Market Holiday Schedule (2026).
• SIFMA — Holiday Schedule: US Recommendations (2026).
• US Securities and Exchange Commission — SEC Finalizes Rules to Reduce Risks in Clearance and Settlement (T+1) (15 February 2023).