There are on average 252 trading days per year for the US stock market
Trading days per year
The two main stock exchanges in the United States, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the NASDAQ, only operate during weekdays. These exchanges only observe nine scheduled holidays per year where trading does not take place, a list of these holidays can be found at the bottom of this article. To calculate the number of trading days in a given year you can use the following formula:
Formula:
In 2021
252 trading days in 2021 = 261- 9
Number of working days in a year can vary from year to year. For example, in 2020 there were 262 working days meaning the number of trading days for that year was 253. In 2021 there are 261 working days so there will likely be 252 trading days.
Likely? Yes, at times the exchanges may have unscheduled shutdowns for various large impact reasons. These can be the passing of a former US president, severe weather events, attacks on the US, or other events of that scale.
Trading days per year for commodities
Trading days a year for commodities resemble trading days for stocks, however, subtle differences in trading hours may be important to note.
Financial commodities in the US and most of the world trade on the futures market, the vast majority of this market is on a CME Group exchange. The CME Group observes eleven holidays per year, however, only nine of these close trading for commodities. The nine holidays for commodities are the same holidays that the stock exchanges observe.
You should note trading hours for commodities are in Central Time and vary by commodity product, different types of commodities also trade on different exchanges within the CME Group. For example, cocoa futures trade on NYMEX vs soybeans futures trade on the CBOT.
About Stock Market Holidays
These holidays are non-weekend events in which trading does not take place in either the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or the Nasdaq. If one of these holidays falls on a weekend, then it will be observed the Friday before or the Monday After. There are also two partial trading days this year where trading ends early at 1 pm EST instead of the normal time at 4:00 p.m. EST, all other weekdays are open for trading.
List Stock Market Holidays 2021
| New Year’s Day | Friday, January 1 – Closed |
| Martin Luther King Jr. Day | Monday, January 18 – Closed |
| Presidents Day | Monday, February 15 – Closed |
| Good Friday | Friday, April 2 – Closed |
| Memorial Day | Monday, May 31 – Closed |
| Independence Day | Monday, July 5 – Closed |
| Labor Day | Monday, September 6 – Closed |
| Thanksgiving | Thursday, November 25 – Closed |
| Christmas Day | Thursday, December 24 – Closed |
Partial Trading Days
| Black Friday | Friday, November 26 – early close 1 pm EST |
| Christmas Eve | Wednesday, December 23 – early close 1 pm EST |
Other Holidays that the Stock Market is Open On
- The stock market is open on Columbus Day
- The stock market is open on Veterans Day
Why does the Stock Market Close on Holidays?
There are two main reasons the stock market closes on certain holidays. First, is the importance of the holiday to many people and taking time to recognize what the holiday is honoring. The second is the potential liquidity issue. If the market is open when the majority of people are not going to participate then there will be fewer buyers and sellers in the market leaving it to operate in a suboptimal manner.