Getty New York Stock Exchange during Christmas
The stock market will be open on Christmas Eve but CLOSED on Christmas Day, which is a federal holiday. The stock market will also be reducing its hours of business, so that it closes earlier than normal on Christmas Eve. Read on for a complete rundown of the stock market 2019 holiday schedule.
The NYSE and the Nasdaq will be closed on Christmas Day. Both of them will be open between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m ET on Christmas Eve. However, the NYSE states that there will be some late trading sessions that will extend beyond these hours. “Each market will close early at 1:00 p.m. ET (1:15 p.m. for eligible options) on Tuesday, December 24, 2019, and Thursday, December 24, 2020,” the website states.
“Crossing Session orders will be accepted beginning at 1:00 p.m. for continuous executions until 1:30 p.m. on this date, and NYSE American Equities, NYSE Arca Equities, NYSE Chicago, and NYSE National late trading sessions will close at 5:00 p.m. All times are Eastern Time.”
The bond market will follow a similar schedule. It will be closed on Christmas Day, but open during reduced hours on Christmas Eve. If you want to do some last-minute trading on the bond market, you will able to do so before it closes at 2:30 p.m. ET on December 24. Currency markets will be open for limited periods on Christmas Eve as well, but their times may vary.
What Other Holidays Will the Stock Market Be Closed?
Christmas Day is the final holiday of the year that the stock market observes. The other holidays that lead the NYSE and the stock market to close include:
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
- Washington’s Birthday
- Good Friday
- Memorial Day
- Independence Day (4th of July)
- Labor Day Monday
- Thanksgiving Day
The next time the markets will be closed is January 1, 2020, otherwise known as New Year’s Day. The NYSE and the Nasdaq will operate during regular business hours the day before, on December 31, but the bond market will close up early at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Kiplinger reports that there are two rules that dictate market closures during holidays. The first rule is that “if the holiday falls on a Saturday, the market will close on the preceding Friday,” and the second is “if the holiday falls on a Sunday, the market will close on the subsequent Monday.” Beyond these specified rules, you can expect the markets to stick by their standard hours: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET.
History of the Stock Market
The New York Stock Exchange was founded on May 17, 1792 by twenty four brokers who signed the Buttonwood Agreement. The document set a floor commission rate that charged to clients and bound the signers to give preference to the other signers. The Open Board of Stock Brokers, which consisted of 354 members, was established in 1864 as a competitor to the NYSE. They eventually merged with the NYSE in 1869.
The main building and the 11 Wall Street building were designated National Historic Landmarks in 1978, and today, the NYSE is the world’s largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It is also known by the nickname “the Big Board.”