In 2023, both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq Stock Market will be closed for ten holidays. The following holiday that the exchanges will be closed is Good Friday, which this year comes on April 7.
Here is the 2023 holiday schedule for the NYSE and NASDAQ:
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day— Monday, Jan. 16
- Washington’s Birthday— Monday, Feb. 20
- Good Friday— Friday, April 7
- Memorial Day— Monday, May 29
- Juneteenth National Independence Day— Monday, June 19
- Independence Day— Tuesday, July 4
- Labor Day— Monday, Sept. 4
- Thanksgiving— Thursday, Nov. 23
- Christmas— Monday, Dec. 25
On work days, the exchanges normally run from 9:30 am to 4 pm EST. On three days in 2023—the day before Independence Day, the day after Thanksgiving, and Christmas Eve—they will close early, at 1 p.m. EST.
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Early closures
With the exception of the day before Independence Day, Black Friday, and Christmas Eve (which occurs on a Sunday in 2023), when the Nasdaq and NYSE close at 1 p.m. ET, the stock market typically operates according to its holiday schedule.
- Day before Independence Day— July 3, 2023
- Day after Thanksgiving — Nov. 24, 2023
Bond market and bank holidays differ
Under rules established by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, a trade association that includes securities firms, banks, and asset management firms, bond traders adhere to a distinct holiday calendar. On Good Friday, the U.S. bond markets are open, although they close early at noon Eastern time.
On the other nine days when the stock exchanges are closed, as well as on Columbus Day, the bond market is completely closed (Monday, Oct. 9). On the Friday before Memorial Day, the day before Independence Day, the day after Thanksgiving, and the last working days before Christmas and New Year’s Eve, they shut early at 2 p.m. EST (Dec. 22 and 29, respectively).
The Federal Reserve System holiday calendar, which is used by the majority of U.S. banks, is different from the stock market calendar. The Fed does not have any officially planned early closing days, does not take a holiday for Good Friday, and honors Columbus Day and Veterans Day (which occurs on a Saturday in 2023).
Stock exchanges rarely sleep for long
Three-day holiday weekends are the longest periods of market silence, barring extremely unusual circumstances. Just a few occasions in the previous century have the exchanges been closed for longer than three consecutive days, most notably in the aftermath of 9/11 in 2001 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
According to Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at the financial research company CFRA, the three-day restriction is not a formal regulation but rather a general rule of thumb that avoids “investor concern” from amassing during a protracted downturn and causing volatility when the market reopens.
According to an ancient proverb, bull markets use the escalator while bear markets use the elevator, according to Stovall. “I believe investors don’t want to be denied access to their money for an extended period of time because fear is a stronger motivator than greed. If anything unsettling happens when the trade was closed, they end up pulling money off the table otherwise.
Bond market early closures
Bond markets, however, have some early and additional closures throughout the year. Bond markets close early, at 2 p.m. ET, on the following days:
- Day before Good Friday — April 6, 2023
- Friday before Memorial — Day May 26, 2023
- Day before Independence — Day July 3, 2023
- Day after Thanksgiving — Nov. 24, 2023
- Friday before Christmas Eve — Dec. 22, 2023
- Friday before New Year’s Eve — Dec. 29, 2023
