What Days Is the Stock Market Closed?
Ever open your investment app on a weekday, expecting to see your portfolio has changed, only to find… nothing? The numbers are exactly the same as yesterday. It’s not a glitch, and there’s a simple reason why your stocks are not updating.
The U.S. stock market, much like a bank or the post office, has a regular business schedule. It operates on weekdays but closes completely for weekends and a specific list of federal holidays. On these days, all buying and selling is paused, and account values won’t change from trading activity.
To ensure you’re never left wondering if the market is open, here is the official stock market schedule, including holidays and the occasional “half-day.”
The First Rule of Trading: The Stock Market Is Always Closed on Weekends
The first and simplest rule of stock market trading is also the easiest to remember: it’s always closed on weekends. The U.S. stock exchange follows a standard business week, shutting down on Friday afternoon and reopening on Monday morning. This reliable schedule gives the entire financial system—and the people who work in it—a predictable break.
So what happens if you get excited and place a trade on a Saturday? Your order isn’t lost; it just waits in a queue. Your brokerage will process the order as soon as the market opens again on Monday.
While this Monday-to-Friday rhythm is the foundation of all market trading days, weekends aren’t the only time the exchange is quiet. Like a bank, the market also closes to observe major U.S. holidays.
The Official 2024 U.S. Stock Market Holiday Schedule
Beyond weekends, the market closes for a specific set of holidays that don’t perfectly match the U.S. federal holiday calendar. The official schedule is set by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and is followed by other major U.S. markets, including the NASDAQ. Knowing this short list is the key to understanding why your investment app might be paused on a random weekday.
For 2024, the complete US stock market holiday schedule includes nine days when trading comes to a complete halt:
- New Year’s Day: Monday, January 1
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Monday, January 15
- Washington’s Birthday: Monday, February 19
- Good Friday: Friday, March 29
- Memorial Day: Monday, May 27
- Juneteenth: Wednesday, June 19
- Independence Day: Thursday, July 4
- Labor Day: Monday, September 2
- Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, November 28
- Christmas Day: Wednesday, December 25
You’ll notice that some days you might expect to be on the list, like Columbus Day and Veterans Day, are regular trading days. On the other hand, Good Friday—which isn’t a federal holiday—is always an NYSE trading holiday. These small differences are why it’s helpful to have this calendar handy. But full-day closures are not the only exceptions to know. On a few special days, the market also has “half-days,” closing its doors earlier than usual.
What Are the Stock Market’s ‘Half-Days’?
In addition to full-day holidays, the stock market also has a few planned “half-days” scattered throughout the year. Think of it like a business letting its employees go home early before a long weekend. It’s a pre-scheduled event and doesn’t signal any problem with the market; it’s simply a chance for everyone to get a head start on a holiday.
On these early closure days, trading officially stops at 1 p.m. Eastern Time, instead of the usual 4 p.m. This most frequently happens on the day after Thanksgiving—also known as Black Friday. Depending on the year, it may also occur on Christmas Eve or the day before Independence Day, giving the market a shortened session before the full holiday begins.
These half-days are always announced well in advance by the exchanges, so they are never a surprise. But what happens if you try to place a trade after 1 p.m. on a half-day, on a weekend, or during one of these holidays?
So, What Happens if You Place a Trade When the Market Is Closed?
Placing an order to buy or sell a stock on a weekend or holiday feels like you’re doing something, but it’s more like leaving a note for the market to read later. Your order isn’t lost or ignored; it’s safely placed in a queue. Think of it as dropping a letter in a mailbox after the last pickup of the day—it sits there securely, waiting for the next business day to be processed. Your brokerage app holds onto your request until the market opens again.
This brings up a crucial point: the price you see when you place your order isn’t necessarily the price you’ll get. The price displayed on a Saturday is just a snapshot of where the stock finished trading on Friday afternoon. It’s a reference point, not a live, guaranteed price tag. The real action doesn’t start again until the opening bell rings on the next trading day.
A lot can happen while the market is asleep. Companies release news, global events unfold, and investor sentiment can shift. Because of this, a stock’s value might change by the time trading resumes. When the market opens, your order will be executed at the first available price, which could be higher or lower than the price you saw when you clicked “buy” or “sell.”
For most people, this process is completely normal and nothing to worry about. Your order to trade on the weekend is simply an instruction that will be carried out automatically as soon as the market reopens. There’s no need to cancel it or re-enter it; the system is designed to handle it for you.
Why the Stock Market Is Open on Some Federal Holidays
If you’ve ever noticed your mail carrier has the day off for a federal holiday like Columbus Day, you might be surprised to see the stock market is still humming along. That’s because the stock market and the federal government follow two different calendars. The official holiday schedule isn’t set by Washington, D.C., but by the financial exchanges themselves, like the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), based on their own operational needs and traditions.
This leads to a few key differences you might notice during the year. The market remains open for business on some federal holidays, most notably Veterans Day and Columbus Day. On the flip side, the stock market does close for Good Friday, which is not an official federal holiday. This particular closure is a long-standing tradition in the financial world. It’s a perfect example of why you can’t always rely on a standard calendar to know if you can trade.
The bond market—where government and corporate debt is traded—has its own, slightly different schedule. It often closes on days the stock market stays open. For most individual investors, this isn’t something you need to track, but it’s a good reminder that different parts of the financial world run on their own clocks.
Are There Ever Unplanned Stock Market Closures?
Can the market close without warning? Yes, but it is exceptionally rare. Think of it as an emergency brake for the entire financial system, pulled only during an extreme national crisis. These unplanned closures are not for technical glitches or a bad day of performance; they are reserved for events that shake the entire country.
Looking back, these historical closures are tied to monumental events. For instance, the market shut down for four days after the September 11th attacks. The goal in these situations is to prevent panic-selling and ensure things can operate fairly when trading resumes, giving everyone time to process what’s happening.
For most investors, this is more of a historical fact than a practical worry. These full-day shutdowns are also different from “circuit breakers”—brief, automatic trading pauses designed to calm the waters on a highly volatile day. Ultimately, you only need to plan around the regular schedule.
Your Simple Guide to Market Trading Days
Understanding the stock market’s rhythm means you no longer need to wonder if your app is broken or if you’ve missed major news. The schedule boils down to a few simple rules: the market is always closed on weekends, it takes off for nine specific U.S. holidays each year, and on rare occasions, it has a planned “half-day” before a holiday.
For a future-proof plan, bookmark the official NYSE closing calendar at nyse.com/markets/hours-calendars. It’s the single source of truth, updated years in advance. With this knowledge, you remove a key piece of investing uncertainty. You’re no longer just watching the market—you understand its clock.