Stock market hours: when the NYSE and Nasdaq open and close
By Maya Koeva · October 12, 2026 · 7 min read
The US stock market is open from 9:30am to 4:00pm Eastern Time, Monday to Friday. The NYSE and Nasdaq share those hours, and most brokers add a pre-market session from 4:00am to 9:30am and an after-hours session from 4:00pm to 8:00pm Eastern.
The market is closed on weekends and on ten holidays a year, and it closes early at 1:00pm on a few days around Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Regular trading hours
| Session | Eastern Time (ET) | Offered by |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-market | 4:00am to 9:30am | NYSE Arca, Nasdaq and most brokers |
| Regular session | 9:30am to 4:00pm | NYSE, Nasdaq and the other US stock exchanges |
| After-hours | 4:00pm to 8:00pm | NYSE Arca, Nasdaq and most brokers |
Most of the day's volume trades in the regular session. The exchanges start it at 9:30am with an opening auction, and the closing auction at 4:00pm sets the official closing price that funds, indexes and your account statement use.
Options trade from 9:30am to 4:00pm as well, and some index and ETF options keep trading until 4:15pm.
Pre-market and after-hours trading
Outside the regular session you can still trade, with catches. Volume is thin and the gap between the buy and sell price is wider, so a small order can move the quote. Most brokers accept only limit orders in these sessions, so you name the highest price you will pay or the lowest you will sell for.
The exchange windows are 4:00am to 9:30am and 4:00pm to 8:00pm Eastern, but your broker sets the hours you get. Some open their pre-market at 7:00am, and some close after-hours earlier than 8:00pm, so check your broker's own schedule before you place an order. Most earnings reports land in these windows, which is why a stock can open far from where it closed. After-hours trading explains why the first move after a report can reverse by the next morning.
Overnight trading in 2026
US exchanges are moving toward a 23-hour trading day on weekdays. The SEC approved Nasdaq's plan to extend its hours on April 10, 2026. Nasdaq and NYSE Arca both plan to add an overnight session from 9:00pm to 4:00am Eastern starting December 6, 2026, subject to the remaining regulatory approvals. Under those plans, trading would run from 9:00pm Sunday to 8:00pm Friday, with a one-hour pause each weeknight.
Some brokers already offer overnight trading on a limited list of stocks through alternative trading systems. Robinhood's 24 Hour Market, for example, runs from 8:00pm Sunday to 8:00pm Friday Eastern. Overnight prices come from an even thinner crowd than after-hours, so treat them as a rough read until the regular session opens at 9:30am.
Stock market hours in your time zone
The table shows the regular 9:30am to 4:00pm Eastern session in other time zones. US clocks fall back on Sunday, November 1, 2026 and spring forward on Sunday, March 14, 2027.
| Time zone | Mid-March to early November | Early November to mid-March |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern (New York) | 9:30am to 4:00pm | 9:30am to 4:00pm |
| Central (Chicago) | 8:30am to 3:00pm | 8:30am to 3:00pm |
| Mountain (Denver) | 7:30am to 2:00pm | 7:30am to 2:00pm |
| Pacific (Los Angeles) | 6:30am to 1:00pm | 6:30am to 1:00pm |
| London | 2:30pm to 9:00pm | 2:30pm to 9:00pm |
| Central Europe (Berlin, Paris) | 3:30pm to 10:00pm | 3:30pm to 10:00pm |
| India (IST) | 7:00pm to 1:30am | 8:00pm to 2:30am |
| Seoul (KST) | 10:30pm to 5:00am | 11:30pm to 6:00am |
| Tokyo (JST) | 10:30pm to 5:00am | 11:30pm to 6:00am |
| Sydney | 11:30pm to 6:00am (April to early October) | 1:30am to 8:00am |
US times stay the same all year because the whole country (outside Arizona and Hawaii) changes its clocks on the same day. Arizona stays on Mountain Standard Time, so the market opens there at 6:30am in the summer and 7:30am in the winter.
Three stretches each year break the pattern, because other countries change their clocks on different dates:
- Late October. Europe falls back on Sunday, October 25, 2026, a week before the US. From October 26 to October 30, 2026 the market opens at 1:30pm in London and 2:30pm in Central Europe.
- Mid to late March. The US springs forward on March 14, 2027 and Europe on March 28, 2027. In between, the open is again an hour earlier for Europe: 1:30pm in London.
- Sydney. Australia runs daylight saving from early October to early April, the opposite half of the year. From October 4 to October 31, 2026, and again from March 14 to April 4, 2027, the open in Sydney is 12:30am.
Seoul, Tokyo and India do not use daylight saving, so their times move only when the US clocks change.
Early closes: when the market shuts at 1:00pm
On an early-close day the regular session ends at 1:00pm Eastern instead of 4:00pm, and the exchange after-hours sessions end at 5:00pm. Eligible options stop at 1:15pm. In 2026 the early closes are Friday, November 27 (the day after Thanksgiving) and Thursday, December 24 (Christmas Eve). Every closed day and early close for 2026 and 2027 is on the stock market holidays page.
Next market holiday
After that
Is the stock market open on weekends and holidays?
No. The NYSE and Nasdaq are closed on Saturdays and Sundays, and on ten holidays a year: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Stocks do trade on Columbus Day and Veterans Day, when the bond market is closed.
Orders you place on a weekend or a holiday usually wait for the next session, unless your broker offers overnight trading and the stock is on its list.
Korean stock market hours
The Korea Exchange (KRX), home of the KOSPI and KOSDAQ, runs its regular session from 9:00am to 3:30pm Korea Standard Time, Monday to Friday. Since September 14, 2026, KRX also runs an after-market from 4:00pm to 8:00pm.
Nextrade (NXT), the alternative exchange that opened in March 2025, trades a smaller list of stocks from 8:00am to 8:00pm, so the Korean trading day now covers twelve hours.
Korea does not use daylight saving. In Eastern Time, the KRX regular session runs from 8:00pm to 2:30am the night before while the US is on daylight time, and from 7:00pm to 1:30am in the winter. Quantral scores Korean stocks on KOSPI and KOSDAQ alongside US listings.
Bond market hours
The US bond market has no single exchange and no 4:00pm bell. Dealers trade Treasuries and other bonds over the counter, and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) recommends the days the market closes. SIFMA closes bonds on Columbus Day and Veterans Day, when stocks trade, and recommends 2:00pm Eastern early closes in late 2026 on the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. The holidays page has the bond market column day by day.
Common questions
What time does the stock market open?
The US stock market opens at 9:30am Eastern Time, Monday to Friday. That is 8:30am Central, 7:30am Mountain and 6:30am Pacific. Pre-market trading starts as early as 4:00am Eastern, depending on your broker.
What time does the stock market close?
The regular session closes at 4:00pm Eastern Time (1:00pm Pacific). On early-close days, such as the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, it closes at 1:00pm Eastern. After-hours trading runs until 8:00pm Eastern at most brokers.
Is the stock market open today?
The rule: the market is open 9:30am to 4:00pm Eastern on any weekday that is not a market holiday. It is closed on Saturdays, Sundays and the ten holidays on the holiday calendar. If today is a weekday and not on that list, the market is open. Columbus Day and Veterans Day are normal trading days for stocks.
Can you trade stocks after hours?
Yes. Most brokers let you trade from 4:00pm to 8:00pm Eastern after the close and from as early as 4:00am before the open, usually with limit orders only. Prices are jumpier and spreads wider than in the regular session, and an after-hours move can reverse by the next morning.
Is the stock market open on Saturday?
No. US stock exchanges are closed on Saturdays and Sundays. Some brokers offer overnight trading that starts Sunday evening, but US stock exchanges do not trade on Saturdays.
Are the NYSE and Nasdaq open at the same times?
Yes. Both exchanges run the regular session from 9:30am to 4:00pm Eastern and close on the same holidays. Their extended sessions also match: 4:00am to 9:30am and 4:00pm to 8:00pm.
What is triple witching?
Four days a year, on the third Friday of March, June, September and December, stock options, index options and index futures all expire together and the closing auction gets much bigger. Triple witching has the 2026 and 2027 dates.
Hours are from the NYSE hours and calendars page, the Nasdaq trading calendar and the SIFMA holiday schedule as published in October 2026. Quantral surfaces signals and context from public sources to support your own research. Nothing here is financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell.