US stock market hours: when do the NYSE, NASDAQ, Dow Jones and S&P 500 open and close?

Opening and closing times of US stock exchanges

There are two stock exchanges located in the US: the NYSE and the NASDAQ. Both follow the same opening times, which you can see listed in the table above.

Unlike many stock exchanges around the world – especially in Asia – neither the NYSE or the NASDAQ closes for a lunch break. So buying and selling takes place right through from the opening bell at 9.30am to the closing bell at 4pm.

Most brokers and trading providers will follow each exchange’s opening times. So if you’re looking to buy and sell US shares in the UK, you’d typically only be able to do so between 2.30pm - 9pm (UK time) from Monday to Friday.

With IG, however, you can access extended hours on over 70 US shares, enabling you to trade from 9am to 1am Monday to Thursday, and 9am to 10pm on Friday (UK time). You’ll also benefit from low fees with $0 commission on US shares,² and an FX conversion fee of just 0.5%. Open an account to get started today.

In addition to sharing the same opening times, the NYSE and the NASDAQ have the same holidays. There are typically nine days each year when US exchanges are closed, plus two when they close early.

Here’s a breakdown of when they fall over the next three years:

^{US stock exchanges won’t observe early closing in 2021 because Christmas falls on a Saturday that year.}

Opening and closing times of US stock indices

A stock index is a calculation of the price movements of a group of shares, so will typically only be open when the relevant exchanges are open. All three major stock indices in the US – the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and the NASDAQ 100 – follow the same times as the NYSE and the NASDAQ.

The S&P 500 and Dow Jones track the prices of stocks listed on both the NYSE and the NASDAQ, while the NASDAQ 100 is comprised solely of stocks listed on the NASDAQ.

The majority of index trading, though, is based on the prices of futures contracts – prices agreed today for a trade at a set date in the future. These contracts are bought and sold on futures exchanges, which typically have longer hours than stock exchanges.

When you see an index price quoted outside of its exchange’s opening times, you’re often seeing its futures price. With IG, you can trade US stock indices 24-hours a day from 11pm Sunday until 10pm Friday (UK time). Outside regular hours, our prices are based on futures and the movements of other related markets.

When buying and selling indices with IG, you can decide whether to trade at the live price (called the spot) or the futures price. You can also buy and sell indices on the weekend if you want to hedge a weekday position.

Learn more about index trading

After-hours stock trading on US shares

As well as their regular hours from 9.30am - 4pm, both the NYSE and the NASDAQ allow after-hours trading up until 8pm (New York time). They also offer a pre-market session from 4am - 9.30am (New York time). During these periods, orders are executed using technology that matches buyers and sellers automatically, called electronic communication networks (ECNs).

The NYSE and the NASDAQ are the world’s biggest and second-biggest exchanges respectively. Offering these extended hours enables them to cater to the high volume of trades they see each day.

However, pre-market and after-hours periods tend to see a drop off in volume from standard hours. This dampens liquidity and can lead to heightened volatility, which may increase risk.

When can you trade or invest in US shares with IG?

There are two ways to buy and sell US shares with IG: trading on their price movements with CFDs, or investing in them directly with share trading.

Both enable you to buy and sell 70 key US shares outside of regular hours. These are called ‘All Session US equities’ on the IG platform.

• You can trade All Session equities from 9am - 1am (UK time) from Monday to Thursday, and 9am - 10pm (UK time) on Friday
• When investing, these companies are available from 12pm - 10.30pm (UK time) from Monday to Thursday, and up until 10pm (UK time) on Friday

All other US shares are available during standard trading times for CFDs and share trading.

IG’s trading and investing hours for US equities

In addition to longer trading times, CFDs bring several other benefits for short- and medium-term traders. They enable you to go both long and short on shares, indices, currencies and more – and give you access to leverage, meaning you only have to put down a percentage of your position’s full value to open it.

You can try out trading risk free by opening an IG demo.

IG’s US index hours

With IG, you can use CFDs to trade the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 24 hours a day from 11pm Sunday to 10pm Friday (UK time). You can even use weekend trading to buy and sell the Dow Jones on a Saturday and Sunday.

You can also invest in US indices via exchange-traded funds (ETFs). ETFs are bought and sold on exchanges, just like shares – so they’re available during each exchange’s opening hours.

Ready to take your position on US indices? Open a live account.

How do stock exchange trading hours work in the US?

Stock exchange trading hours in the US work using three distinct sessions: pre-market, regular and after-hours. Pre-market runs from 4am - 9.30am, regular runs from 9.30am to 4pm and after-hours runs from 4pm - 8pm (New York time). So it’s possible to buy and sell stocks 14 hours a day.

The trading floor on the NYSE, though, is only open during the regular session. Pre-market and after-hours orders are facilitated using ECNs that automatically match buyers and sellers. The NASDAQ doesn’t have a trading floor – order fulfilment is computerised across every session.

Despite the rise of extended-hours trading, most volume still occurs during standard hours on both the NYSE and the NASDAQ.

US stock market opening times summed up

• Regular trading hours on the NASDAQ and NYSE run from 2.30pm - 9pm (UK time)
• Both exchanges offer extended hours, which are facilitated using ECNs
• You can trade 70 key US stocks from 9am - 1am (UK time) Monday to Thursday, and up to 10pm (UK time) on a Friday, with IG

Open a live account to get started

Footnotes

¹The hours mentioned in this article are set by each individual exchange and may vary. Hours change as countries shift to and from daylight savings time.
²IG’s best commission is available to active clients who place three or more trades in the previous calendar month.