You may have a question about whether the stock markets are presently open and functioning. We will answer all these queries with our stock market holiday calendar for this year. We will discuss all the holidays of the stock markets as well as the bond markets that are going to take place this year. The usual trading hours for the NASDAQ stock market and the New York Stock Exchange is after 9.30 AM to 4 PM ET on weekdays. When there are early closure days, the financial markets close at 1 PM ET, and the bond markets close at 2 PM ET. The stock market holiday calendar has grown by a single holiday this year. This is because Congress has voted to make Juneteenth the latest federal holiday. The holiday falls on June 19 and commemorates the end of slavery in the country. President Joe Biden signed the bill, gave his official stamp of approval, and added it to the holiday calendar.

With that approval, the holiday became the first to be recognized on a federal level since Martin Luther King Jr. Day, approved nearly forty years ago. This year, the holiday calendar shows that the financial markets will close on the day after Juneteenth. This is because that day falls on a Sunday.

Stock Market Holiday Calendar for 2022

Stock Market Holiday Calendar for Bond Market

The stock market holiday calendar for the bond market also has the same holidays as the financial markets. But it has some more holidays. These are Columbus Day on October 10 and Veterans Day on November 11. The bond market also closes early on some days of the year. These are 

• The day before Good Friday
• The Friday before Memorial Day
• The Friday before Independence Day
• Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving)
• Christmas Eve
• New Year's Eve

This year, there are some differences in the stock market holiday calendar for the bond market. It is back to giving a holiday on Good Friday. The market will also close early on Maundy Thursday. When it comes to both the bond and the stock markets, if there is any holiday on the weekend, the financial market closes according to the rules. If the holiday happens on Saturday, the financial market will close on Friday, falling before that. If the holiday happens on a Sunday, the financial market will close on Monday after that day.

Hours of the Financial Markets

The main trading hours of the NASDAQ and the NYSE stock markets are 9.30 PM to 4 PM ET on weekdays. But both the exchanges also give pre-market trading hours that lie between 4 AM and 9.30 AM ET. It also provides late trading hours from 4 PM to 8 PM ET. The bond markets typically trade between 8 AM and 5 PM ET. People may have queries regarding why the financial markets give limited hours to trade when there are individuals who would like to sell and buy shares round the clock. One of the top reasons behind this is liquidity. Liquidity is how much selling and buying is happening in the financial markets at a given point in time. When there is more liquidity in the stock, the trader is more likely to get a better price. Whereas when there is less liquidity, the trader might have to go for a less-than-ideal price to complete a transaction in the financial markets.

Principal of Sizemore Capital Management Charles Sizemore said, "For the market to function effectively, you need buyers and sellers. This is why the stock market has set hours that happen to correspond to the East Coast workday. You want the maximum number of traders buying and selling at the same time. If you were at an estate auction selling your grandmother's antiques, you'd want a lot of bidders there. It's the same rationale in the stock market."

Stock Market Holiday Calendar Differs from Bank Holidays

The investors in the bond markets have a more extensive stock market holiday calendar under the rules outlined by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. It is a trade group that looks after asset management firms, banks, and securities companies. The stock market holiday calendar is also different from the Federal Reserve System holiday fixtures followed by most of the banks in the nation. The Federal Reserve also observes Veterans Day and Columbus Day. But it does not have a holiday on Good Friday and does not close early on any particular day.

Stock Market Holiday Calendar Special Circumstances

If any holiday on the stock market holiday calendar happens on a Saturday, the Friday before is scheduled as a holiday in the stock markets. Also, the financial markets usually close on Monday if the holiday is on a Sunday. There are times when the financial markets close down for the national days of mourning. NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange did exactly that when they had to honor the late President George Bush senior a few years ago. The list of holidays in the stock market has also grown because Congress recently confirmed Juneteenth as the latest federal holiday announced by the Government.

Financial Markets Rarely Take Holidays

An extended holiday weekend is the longest time the financial markets go silent except for very rare circumstances. The financial markets have shut down for four days or more only a few times in the past hundred years. The most recent in memory was when the attacks happened on the World Trade Center and the occurrence of Superstorm Sandy a decade ago. The limit on the consecutive vacation days is not a formally spelled out policy. But it is a rule of thumb that limits any investor angst from growing because of any elongated down period. Such down periods can lead to significant volatility when the market reopens.

The chief investment strategist at research firm CFRA Sam Stovall said, "There's an old saying that bull markets take the escalator while bear markets take the elevator. Since fear is a greater motivator than greed, I think investors don't want to be denied access to their money for too long. Otherwise, they end up taking money off the table, especially if some unnerving event occurred while the exchange was closed."

Conclusion

The commencement of a new year means that investors are keeping a close watch on their own portfolios and are also actively seeking financial changes that may happen. A large portion of creating those financial plans is finding out the dates of the year during which the financial markets in the nation, such as the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and the bond markets, are going to remain closed. Our detailed stock market holiday calendar will give you all the answers regarding the closure of the financial markets at specific times of the year.