Investors will want to finish their trading year on a high note as the last month of the year approaches and winter arrives. It is suggested that people monitor the holiday calendar in order to manage their stock market trades. The stock exchanges publish the calendar.
On November 29, the U.S. stock markets will open for business for half a day and close early for Thanksgiving at 1 p.m. EST (Eastern Standard Time). Additionally, the US bond market will be closed on Thursday and close at 2:00 PM EST on Friday. Wall Street will resume normal operations until late December, following its early Black Friday closure and Thanksgiving holiday closure.
On Wednesday, December 25, the stock market is scheduled to close in celebration of the Christmas holiday. On Christmas Eve, markets are also expected to close early. In anticipation of Thanksgiving, traders booked profits, which caused Wall Street to close lower on Wednesday. The Dow dropped 0.3 percent, and the S&P 500 plummeted 0.4%. The Nasdaq composite index, which is primarily composed of technology stocks, experienced a 0.6% decline on November 27.
What Are Stock Market Holidays?
The term “market holiday” refers to any day other than a weekend when the bond, Nasdaq, or New York Stock Exchange closes for the day. Typically, that celebration is comparable to Christmas or Thanksgiving.
While the bond markets stay closed or close early on some holidays or days near them, the stock markets keep open. As the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq did in 2018 in remembrance of the late President George H.W. Bush, markets occasionally close for national days of mourning.
Extended Hours Trading
Additionally, there are extended markets, or pre-market and after-hours trading sessions, accessible. The pre-market trading hours for the Nasdaq run from 4:00 am until 9:30 am Eastern Time. Eastern Time Zone after hours are from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Different pre-market and after-hours trading timings are observed by different brokers. It is possible to trade during certain hours with certain online brokers; check with your broker to find out if you are qualified to do so.
