Accounting for all the stock exchanges around the globe, the Equities market closes for only two hours a day when observed from an India time perspective. For 22 hours straight, Monday through Friday, there is equity trading going on somewhere in the world.
Let’s delve into this topic and understand everything about the US stock market trading hours and we will also take a brief look at other stock exchanges.
Overview of US stock market & timings
The US stock market consists of two major exchanges that are the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations or Nasdaq & the New York Stock Exchange or NYSE. The combined market capitalization for these two exchanges is $54.95 trillion as of November 2024. This equates to roughly 15 times the Indian GDP in 2023.
Also read: Why is the US dollar the ‘currency of the world’?
The current building of the NYSE has been a home to the US stock markets since 1903. Nasdaq started in 1971 and it was the first ever electronic trading exchange in the world.
The cash segment of the US markets is divided into three sessions- pre-market, regular-market, and post-market. The pre-market trading begins at 4:00 AM and closes at 9:30 AM local time (Source: NYSE). The regular hours are from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM, and the post-market is from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM (all times are according to NYC local time).
The US also observes Daylight savings time (DST), meaning from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November, clocks are advanced by one hour. For Indian investors this would mean that during the DST period markets would open at 7:00PM and close at 1:30PM. So, during DST months the time gap becomes 9 hours 30 minutes, then the original 10 hours and 30 minutes.
Time in New York City is 10 hours and thirty minutes behind Indian local time. The table below converts the local US time to the Indian time.
| Timings | NYSE/Nasdaq (local time)(Non DST) | NYSE/Nasdaq (IST) |
| Pre-Market | 4:00 A.M. – 9:30 A.M. | 2:30 P.M. – 8:00 P.M. |
| Regular hours | 9:30 A.M. – 4:00 P.M. | 8:00 P.M. – 2:30 A.M. |
| Post-Market | 4:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M. | 2:30 A.M. – 6:30 A.M. |
The pre-market and post-market hours are known as extended hours and traders use Electronic communication networks (ECN) to execute trades. These were introduced so that traders could react to various events like earnings reports, announcements, etc.
Trading of futures and options in the US is facilitated by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). These trade for 23 hours every day for 5 days a week. Trading begins at 6:00 P.M. local time and continues until 5:00 P.M. the next day. According to Indian time, that equals 4:30 A.M. to 3:30 A.M. the next day.
Also read: Unlocking the power of index futures: A beginner’s guide
List of US stock market holidays
The American stock market provides 10 holidays each year apart from Saturdays and Sundays which are permanent holidays. The list of NYSE holidays for 2025 is as follows:
| Name of the holiday | Date (2025) |
| New Year’s Day | 1st January, Wednesday |
| Martin Luther King, Jr. Day | 20th January, Monday |
| Washington’s Birthday | 17th February, Monday |
| Good Friday | 18th April, Friday |
| Memorial Day | 26th May, Monday |
| Juneteenth National Independence Day | 19th June, Thursday |
| Independence Day | 4th July, Friday |
| Labor Day | 1st September, Monday |
| Thanksgiving Day | 27th November, Thursday |
| Christmas Day | 25th December, Thursday |
(Source: NYSE)
Unforeseen events where US markets were closed:
The US market had to be closed when the terrorist attacks took place on 11th September 2001. The markets were closed for four working days.
Due to Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the US markets were closed for two consecutive business days.
Timings of some other major stock exchanges worldwide
Let us take a brief look at the major foreign stock market timings around the world ranked by earliest open in terms of Indian standard time.
| Name of exchange(S) | Name of the country | Open – Close(local time) | Open – Close(IST) | Market capitalization ($ trillion) as of Nov 2024 |
| Tokyo Stock exchange | Japan | 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM | 5:30 AM – 11:30 AM | 6.94 |
| Hong Kong stock exchange | Hong Kong | 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM | 6:45 AM – 1:30 PM | 4.06 |
| Shanghai stock exchange | China | 9:30 AM – 3:00 PM | 7:00 AM – 12:30 PM | 7.4 |
| Deutsche Borse AG | Germany | 8:00 AM – 10:00 PM | 12:30 PM – 2:30 AM | 2.25 |
| London Stock Exchange | UK | 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM | 1:30 PM – 10:00 PM | 3.24 |
| NYSE, Nasdaq | USA | 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM | 8:00 PM – 2:30 AM | 54.95(COMBINED) |
| Toronto stock exchange | Canada | 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM | 8:00 PM – 3:30 AM | 3.35 |
- The trading sessions in Japan, China, and Hong Kong are halted in between for lunch breaks. In Japan and Hong Kong, it gets halted for one hour, and for 90 minutes in China.
- German stock exchanges have the longest regular trading time, 14 hours
Bottomline
The US stock market open time is 9:30 AM and close at 4:00 PM. From an Indian standard time perspective, stock exchanges begin trading at 5:30 AM starting in Japan and close at 3:30 AM the next day in Canada which amounts to trading activity of 22 hours a day across the world.
A trader in India looking forward to studying and investing in the US market would have to work from 8:00 PM to 2:30 AM Indian time.
Also read: Invest in US Stocks from India
FAQs
1: What is the US market opening time in India?
The local time in New York is 10 hours and 30 minutes behind the Indian time. When trading begins in NYC at 9:30 AM it is 8:00 PM in India the same day. When the trading session closes at 4:00 PM in NYC it is 2:30 AM the next day in India.
2: What are the timings of US dollar trading?
The foreign exchange markets are open 24 hours a day Monday to Friday. It opens at 5:00 PM on Sundays in NYC to sync with Japan and China, where it is Monday morning at the same time. It closes at 5:00 PM on Friday in NYC.
3: Can you trade US stocks in India?
Yes some specialized brokers provide the facility of trading the US markets. A risk analysis needs to be completed before investing in the US markets. It is necessary to study the rules and regulations.
4: Difference between NYSE and Nasdaq?
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the oldest stock exchange in the US. Nasdaq was formed in 1971 to shift from the traditional method of paper trading to electronic trading. Nasdaq was also the first electronic trading exchange in the world.
5: How many big stock exchanges are there across the world?
To define big, we will consider all the markets with a capitalization of more than $1 trillion. So as of November 2024, there are 21 stock exchanges that made their way into this list. The biggest is NYSE with a market capitalization of 28.33 trillion dollars.
