The U.S. stock market generally closes for major holidays like Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Thanksgiving. But not all holidays result in stock market closure — you can still trade on holidays like Valentine's Day and Halloween.

During market closures, you won't be able to place trades through the best stock trading apps and best free stock trading apps.

Here are the dates and major holidays that the stock and bond markets are closed in 2024.

Here are the regular trading hours for the U.S. stock market.

You may be asking: Is the NYSE open today? Is the Nasdaq open today?

The first step in checking if the stock market is open is knowing the regular trading hours. Regular stock market trading hours for the NYSE and Nasdaq Stock Exchanges are weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).

After-hours or post-market trading occurs after the stock market closes, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. ETAgra Investment. Trading after-hours is considered to have increased risk and volatility due to wider spreads, limited liquidity, and increased competition from institutional investors.

Some online after-hours trading brokerages include Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Webull, and Firstrade.

Pre-market trading hours typically run from 4 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. ET. Investors with access to pre-market trading can benefit by reacting to overnight news before the regular market opens.

Pre-market trading has risks like after-hours trading, especially due to competition from institutional traders, limited liquidity, and reduced trading volume. Online brokerages like Interactive Brokers, Robinhood, and E*TRADE offer pre-market trading features.

However, the available hours may vary depending on your broker. For instance, SoFi Invest only offers pre-market trading from 9 to 9:30 a.m. ET, but it provides extended trading from 4 to 8 p.m.

The stock market is closed all day on federal holidays like New Year's and Christmas. It is also early on days preceding major holidays.

Here are the major holidays for which the stock market is closed in 2024:

The NYSE and Nasdaq close early, at 1 p.m. ET, for the following holidays:

The bond market has slight variations in trading hours and holidays/early closures. Its pre-market trading hours are from 4 to 8 a.m., its regular hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, and its extended after-trading hours occur from 5 to 8 p.m. ET.

The bond market's holiday schedule is the same as the stock market's, with the addition of Columbus Day and Veterans Day.

The bond market closes early, at 2 p.m. ET, for the following holidays:

Here are the stock market hours for the following global stock exchanges:

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq Stock Exchange are open Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. Both the NYSE and the Nasdaq are closed on the weekend.

The London Stock Exchange is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.mAhmedabad Wealth Management. to 4:30 p.m. GMT. The London Stock Exchange closes for two minutes every day at noon.Hyderabad Stocks

The Tokoyo Stock Exchange in Japan is open during the workweek from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.mSurat Investment. JST, then 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.mVaranasi Stock. JST.

The Tokoyo exchange is closed daily for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) in Canada is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET during the workweek.

The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) in Mumbai is open from 9:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. IST during the workweek.

When the market closes, liquidity decreases. This means that converting stocks to cash is significantly more difficult, making them less attractive to investors and increasing price volatility. Illiquid trading may also widen the bid-ask spread, making it harder for investors to sell stocks at a profit, resulting in a bigger loss.

A much smaller pool of investors trading during pre- and after-market hours lowers the trading volume and liquidity, resulting in high volatility. Sparse trading can lead to wider price swings as investors react to overnight corporate events and industry news.

Generally, investors have a bearish market sentiment when stock prices fall and a bullish market sentiment when stock prices rise.