US stock and bond markets close Monday for Memorial Day, with bond markets also shutting early Friday at 2:00 p.m. ET. Futures operate on modified CME and Cboe schedules through the holiday.
Summary:
- US stock markets close on Monday May 25 for Memorial Day, with regular trading hours of 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET resuming Tuesday May 26
- US bond markets also close Monday May 25 and will have an early close on Friday May 22 at 2:00 p.m. ET
- US futures markets operate on modified schedules rather than closing entirely on Memorial Day, with most CME Group and Cboe products remaining available electronically
- Equity and interest rate futures open as usual on Sunday evening for Tuesday’s trade date, halt at 12:00 p.m. CT on Memorial Day, then reopen for the evening session at 5:00 p.m. CT
- Regular futures trading generally resumes at 5:00 p.m. CT on Memorial Day
US financial markets head into the Memorial Day long weekend with a curtailed schedule beginning Friday afternoon, giving traders a compressed window to manage positions before a full closure on Monday brings Wall Street’s busiest week to a quieter close.
Stock markets will shut entirely on Monday May 25 in observance of Memorial Day, with normal trading hours of 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time not resuming until Tuesday May 26. The closure is total for equities: there are no modified sessions, no after-hours carve-outs, and no electronic access to cash equity markets during the holiday.
Bond markets face an even earlier interruption, with an afternoon close on Friday May 22 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, several hours ahead of the usual end of the fixed income session. That early cut-off reduces the time available for traders to react to any late-breaking data or headlines on Friday, a consideration that carries particular weight given the ongoing volatility in rates markets tied to Iran war developments and uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s rate path.
Futures markets offer a more flexible picture over the long weekend. CME Group and Cboe products will not close entirely but will operate on shortened or modified electronic schedules through the holiday. For equity index and interest rate futures, the session opens as usual on Sunday evening, establishing the baseline for Tuesday’s trade date. Trading then halts at noon Central Time on Memorial Day itself before the evening session resumes at 5:00 p.m. Central Time, at which point full electronic access returns and markets can begin digesting any weekend developments.
That evening reopening on Monday will be closely watched, particularly if the geopolitical situation shifts over the three-day break. The Strait of Hormuz closure has kept energy markets and broader risk sentiment in an unusually reactive state, and a weekend of developments in the Middle East could produce a sharp move when futures come back online.
For participants in international markets, the US closures serve as a reminder that liquidity in dollar-denominated instruments and US-referenced benchmarks will be thinner than usual through much of Monday. Trading desks operating across time zones will need to factor in the modified schedule when managing exposure to US assets for the duration of the long weekend.
FX is a global over-the-counter market with no central exchange and no single jurisdiction’s holidays governing its hours, so it runs continuously through the US holiday, with a big but! London, Tokyo, Sydney and other centres will be open as usual, and US-based participants who choose to trade can do so. The main practical effect of the US closure is reduced liquidity during what would normally be the New York session window, which can widen spreads and amplify moves if any significant news crosses during that period.
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Reduced liquidity into the long weekend creates conditions where price moves can be exaggerated in both directions, particularly given the elevated geopolitical risk around the Iran conflict that has kept traders on edge. The early bond market close at 2:00 p.m. ET on Friday compresses the window for any position adjustment ahead of the three-day break. Futures markets remaining open on a modified basis through Monday provide a partial release valve for offshore developments, but the reopening of full electronic trading at 5:00 p.m. CT on Monday evening will be the first meaningful gauge of how sentiment has shifted over the weekend.
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Out of interest on bond market holidays, , SIFMA, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, is the principal trade body representing broker-dealers, investment banks, and asset managers operating in US financial markets.
On the fixed income side specifically, SIFMA publishes an annual recommended holiday schedule for the US bond market, and while the recommendations carry no legal force, they are followed as standard practice across the industry. The reason SIFMA rather than a regulator issues these guidelines reflects the nature of the bond market itself: unlike equities, which trade on regulated exchanges with mandated hours, most fixed income instruments trade over the counter between institutions. There is no single exchange authority to set the rules, so the industry coordinates through SIFMA to ensure that shortened or closed sessions are observed consistently, reducing the risk of settlement failures and thin-market dislocations on days when staffing and liquidity are reduced
