When the Stock Market Opens and Closes: Trading Hours You Need to Know

The regular U.S. stock market closes at 4 p.m. Eastern time on weekdays

The main U.S. stock exchanges — the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the NASDAQ — operate on the same schedule. They open at 9:30 a.m. Eastern and close at 4 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday. This is the regular trading session, when the vast majority of stock trades happen and when most individual investors buy and sell.

The market is closed on weekends and on federal holidays. When a holiday falls on a weekday, the exchanges shut down for the entire day — there is no trading at all. The market also closes early (at 1 p.m. Eastern) on the day after Thanksgiving and on Christmas Eve, if either falls on a weekday.

If you place an order to buy or sell a stock during market hours, it executes during that session. If you place an order after 4 p.m., it waits until the next market open at 9:30 a.m. the following trading day.

Key Takeaways

• Regular U.S. stock market hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday.
• The market is closed all day on weekends and federal holidays, and closes early at 1 p.m. Eastern on the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.
• Extended-hours trading (before 9:30 a.m. and after 4 p.m.) exists but has lower volume, wider price spreads, and higher risk for individual investors.
• Your brokerage may have its own cutoff times for placing orders, which can be earlier than the market close.
• Stock prices do not change when the market is closed — they only move when trading is happening.

Extended-hours trading: before and after the regular session

You can trade stocks outside regular market hours through pre-market and after-hours sessions, but most individual investors should understand the real costs before doing so. Pre-market trading runs from 4 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Eastern. After-hours trading runs from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern. Not all brokerages offer both, and not all stocks can be traded in these windows.

The main problem with extended-hours trading is volume. Far fewer traders are active, so the gap between the price someone is willing to pay and the price someone is willing to sell at — called the spread — is much wider. You might see a stock trading at $50 during the day, but in after-hours trading the bid might be $49.50 and the ask $50.50. That $1 gap is real money out of your pocket. Prices also move more sharply on smaller trades, and news that breaks after hours can cause wild swings before the regular session opens.

Most brokerages that do offer extended-hours trading require you to opt in and may charge a fee. Check your brokerage's rules before assuming you can trade at 7 p.m. on a Tuesday.

Why the market closes at 4 p.m. Eastern, not another time

The 4 p.m. close is a historical artifact. The NYSE has operated from lower Manhattan since 1817, and the trading day was always set to match the business hours of the financial district. When electronic trading replaced floor trading in the 1970s and 1980s, the hours stayed the same. The 9:30 a.m. open gives traders time to review overnight news and prepare, and the 4 p.m. close gives clearing houses time to settle trades before the next day.

The market does not close because of some rule written in stone — it closes because that is when the major exchanges decided to close, and that schedule has stuck for over a century. If you are trading from the West Coast, 4 p.m. Eastern is 1 p.m. Pacific. If you are in Europe or Asia, the market is closed when you wake up.

What happens to stock prices when the market is closed

Stock prices do not change when the market is closed. The last price you see at 4 p.m. is the price that stands until 9:30 a.m. the next trading day. If you check your brokerage app at 6 p.m. or midnight, the price will be the same as it was at 4 p.m.

News can break after hours — a company might announce earnings, a CEO might resign, or major economic data might be released. But the stock price does not move until traders can actually buy and sell it, which happens at the next market open. This is why you sometimes see a stock gap up or down sharply at the 9:30 a.m. open: the market is repricing it based on overnight news, and the first trades of the day reflect that new information.

If you own a stock and the market is closed, your shares are still yours, but you cannot sell them until the market opens. This is why holding a stock overnight or over a weekend carries risk — you cannot exit your position if something changes.

Time zones and how to know when the market closes where you are

The stock market operates on Eastern time, regardless of where you live. If you are on the West Coast, subtract three hours: 4 p.m. Eastern is 1 p.m. Pacific. If you are in the Mountain time zone, subtract two hours: 4 p.m. Eastern is 2 p.m. Mountain. If you are in the Central time zone, subtract one hour: 4 p.m. Eastern is 3 p.m. Central.

During daylight saving time (roughly March through November), these offsets stay the same. When the U.S. switches to standard time in November, Eastern time is UTC-5 and Pacific time is UTC-8, so the three-hour gap holds. The market does not shift its hours for daylight saving time — it just follows Eastern time as it is.

If you trade from outside the United States, convert the close time to your local time zone. A market close at 4 p.m. Eastern is 9 p.m. in London, 10 p.m. in central Europe, and 1 a.m. the next day in Tokyo.

How your brokerage's order cutoff times work

Your brokerage may have its own cutoff time that is earlier than the market close. Some brokerages stop accepting new orders at 3:55 p.m. Eastern to give themselves time to process them before the market closes. Others allow orders right up to 4 p.m. Check your brokerage's website or call to confirm when you can actually place an order on a given day.

This matters most if you are trying to trade in the final minutes of the day. If you see a stock moving and want to buy it at 3:58 p.m., your brokerage might have already stopped accepting new orders. The order you think you placed may not go through until the next day.

Limit orders — orders to buy or sell at a specific price — can stay open after hours and into the next day if they do not execute during the regular session. A market order placed after the close will execute at the next market open, at whatever price the stock is trading at that moment.

Federal holidays when the stock market is closed

The NYSE and NASDAQ close on New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. If any of these holidays falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the market is closed on the nearest weekday instead.

The market also closes early — at 1 p.m. Eastern — on the day after Thanksgiving (the Friday after Thanksgiving) and on Christmas Eve, if either falls on a weekday. If Christmas Eve falls on a Saturday, the market is closed on Friday, December 23. If it falls on a Sunday, the market is closed on Monday, December 25 (which is also Christmas Day, so it is closed anyway).

Check your brokerage's holiday calendar before assuming you can trade on a day that might be a holiday. Some brokerages publish their full holiday schedule at the start of each year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I place an order after 4 p.m. and have it execute that same day?

No. Any order placed after 4 p.m. Eastern waits until the next market open at 9:30 a.m. the following trading day. If you place an order at 5 p.m. on a Tuesday, it will not execute until Wednesday morning at the earliest. The only exception is if you use after-hours trading through your brokerage, which operates until 8 p.m. Eastern, but volume is much lower and spreads are wider.

What time does the stock market close on the West Coast?

The market closes at 1 p.m. Pacific time. Eastern time is three hours ahead of Pacific time, so when it is 4 p.m. in New York, it is 1 p.m. in California. This applies year-round, even when daylight saving time changes.

Does the stock market ever open early or stay open late?

The regular market opens at 9:30 a.m. and closes at 4 p.m. Eastern every trading day. Extended-hours trading exists (pre-market from 4 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., and after-hours from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.), but these sessions have much lower volume and wider spreads. The regular session is when the vast majority of trading happens.

What happens if I try to sell a stock right at 4 p.m.?

If your order reaches your brokerage before its cutoff time (which may be a few minutes before 4 p.m.), it will execute during the regular session at the market price. If it arrives after the cutoff, it waits until the next market open. Check your brokerage's specific cutoff time to know how much buffer you have.

Can I trade stocks on Christmas or Thanksgiving?

No. The stock market is closed all day on both Christmas and Thanksgiving. It is also closed on other federal holidays including New Year's Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day. The market does close early (at 1 p.m. Eastern) on the day after Thanksgiving and on Christmas Eve if they fall on a weekday.