Here we are, the busiest time of year for most of us. That said, it’s important to take note of holiday trading hours. The hours the markets are open and closed are not always common sense, so here’s a consolidated listing of what to expect. All times are in the US/Eastern, ET/EST, GMT/UTC-5 time zone. Activity is based on equity product information from the CME Group Holiday Calendar (https://www.cmegroup.com/tools-information/holiday-calendar.html). Note that grain and other food-related markets may have different hours. As reflected below, we’re mainly concerned with CME Group equity products/markets, such as the E-mini S&P 500.
Thanksgiving Day is Nov. 28, 2019. Thanksgiving Day, trading halts at 1:00 p.m. and resumes at 6:00 p.m. ET. The following day (Black Friday, Nov. 29, 2019), the market closes early at 1:15 p.m. ET.
Christmas Day is Dec. 25, 2019. Christmas Eve is, of course, the day before, Dec. 24, 2019. On Christmas Eve, the market closes early at 1:15 p.m. ET. The market remains closed until reopening at 6:00 p.m. ET Christmas Day.
New Year’s Eve is Dec. 31, 2019. New Year’s Day is, of course, the day after, Jan. 1, 2020. The market operates with normal hours on New Year’s Eve. On New Year’s Day, the market is closed until 6:00 p.m.. at which point, normal operation/hours resume.
Be mindful that trading around the holidays can be tricky. For example, the big players in the market may be absent, so look for periods of low volatility. Conversely, we will see consumer-related reports throughout the holiday shopping season. Such reports may cause sudden volatility.
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