Is the Stock Market Open on New Year's Eve 2026? Hours, 2027 Calendar
Yes, the US stock market is open on New Year's Eve 2026. Thursday, December 31, 2026 is a full session on the NYSE and Nasdaq, 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM Eastern, with no early close. Friday, January 1, 2027 is a market holiday, the weekend follows, and the first trading day of 2027 is Monday, January 4. The bond market is the one that shortens the day: SIFMA recommends a 2:00 PM close on December 31 and a full close on January 1.
That is the schedule. The rest of this page covers what people searching this week actually need around it: the settlement date for a December 31 trade, why year-end orders need the full session's attention, the complete 2027 NYSE holiday calendar, and what the S&P 500 has done on the last trading day of the year and the first one of the next, in all 76 pairs since 1950.
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day market hours, 2026 to 2027
| Date | Stocks (NYSE and Nasdaq) | Bonds (SIFMA recommendation) |
|---|---|---|
| Thu Dec 31, 2026, New Year's Eve | Open, full session 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM ET | Early close 2:00 PM ET |
| Fri Jan 1, 2027, New Year's Day | Closed | Closed |
| Sat Jan 2 and Sun Jan 3, 2027 | Closed (weekend) | Closed |
| Mon Jan 4, 2027 | First trading day of 2027, normal hours | Normal hours |
| Mon Jan 18, 2027, Martin Luther King Jr. Day | Closed | Closed |
Unlike Christmas Eve, which closes at 1:00 PM this year, December 31 runs to the normal 4:00 PM bell, with the closing auction at its usual time. The NYSE calendar lists no early close for the date, and that has been the pattern for years: the exchange shortens Christmas Eve and the day after Thanksgiving, not New Year's Eve. Extended-hours sessions also run as normal. The detail that does change is the bond side, where SIFMA's recommended 2:00 PM close means Treasury and corporate bond liquidity thins in the afternoon while stocks are still trading.
Three things a December 31 trade carries into January
- Settlement. A stock trade on Thursday, December 31 settles on the next business day, which is Monday, January 4, 2027, because January 1 is a holiday and the weekend follows. Cash from a December 31 sale is not settled until the new year.
- Tax year. For US taxpayers, a sale's gain or loss generally belongs to the year of the trade date, so a sale executed on December 31, 2026 is a 2026 event even though it settles in 2027. Whether that helps or hurts is a question for a tax professional, and the wash-sale rule still counts 30 days on either side of the trade.
- Day orders. With a full session there is no early expiry, but any good-for-day order still dies at 4:00 PM and nothing carries into January 4 unless it was entered good-till-cancelled. An automated system that places entries on December 31 should treat it as an ordinary day, and treat January 1 as closed; JorgAI's scanner uses the exchange holiday calendar for that, and stops fifteen minutes before whichever close applies, which on December 31 is the normal 3:45 PM.
The S&P 500 on the last trading day of the year, 1950 to 2025
There have been 76 year-end sessions since 1950. In 54 of them the last trading day was December 31 itself; in the rest it was December 29 or 30, because the 31st fell on a weekend. Using daily closes of the S&P 500 index from Yahoo Finance, pulled November 9, 2026:
| Measure | Last session of the year, 1950 to 2025 |
|---|---|
| Sessions | 76 |
| Closed higher | 44 of 76 (58%) |
| Median move | +0.14% |
| Mean move | +0.07% |
| Best | +2.08% |
| Worst | -1.74% |
| Volume vs the prior 20 sessions (since 1993) | About 72% of a normal day, median |
| Last 12 years | Closed lower in 9 of 12 (every year from 2021 to 2025) |
Two things stand out. First, New Year's Eve is a real trading day, not a half-day drift: volume runs about 72% of normal, double what Christmas Eve manages. Second, the long record and the recent record disagree. Over 76 years the last session leaned slightly positive; over the last twelve it has closed lower nine times, including each of the last five years. Nobody should trade on either of those facts, but anyone holding positions into the bell should know the day is not the quiet one in the calendar.
The first trading day of the year
The first session of the new year, which is January 4 in 2027, has a different shape: a coin flip with a wide range.
| Measure | First session of the year, 1951 to 2026 |
|---|---|
| Sessions | 76 |
| Closed higher | 38 of 76 (50%) |
| Median move | 0.00% |
| Mean move | +0.15% |
| Best | +3.59% |
| Worst | -2.80% |
| 2010s | Up 7 of 10, mean +0.62% |
| 2020s so far | Up 3 of 7, mean -0.14% |
The first day of the year is also the first day of the month, and the first trading day of any month has its own well-documented tilt, covered with all the data in the turn-of-the-month effect. Both sessions sit inside the Santa Claus rally window, the last five sessions of the year plus the first two of the next, which has its own page with all 76 windows. And for how December and January compare with the rest of the calendar, see stock market seasonality since 1950.
The last twelve year-ends
| Year-end | Last session | Move | First session | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Wed Dec 31 | -0.74% | Fri Jan 2, 2026 | +0.19% |
| 2024 | Tue Dec 31 | -0.43% | Thu Jan 2, 2025 | -0.22% |
| 2023 | Fri Dec 29 | -0.28% | Tue Jan 2, 2024 | -0.57% |
| 2022 | Fri Dec 30 | -0.25% | Tue Jan 3, 2023 | -0.40% |
| 2021 | Fri Dec 31 | -0.26% | Mon Jan 3, 2022 | +0.64% |
| 2020 | Thu Dec 31 | +0.64% | Mon Jan 4, 2021 | -1.48% |
| 2019 | Tue Dec 31 | +0.29% | Thu Jan 2, 2020 | +0.84% |
| 2018 | Mon Dec 31 | +0.85% | Wed Jan 2, 2019 | +0.13% |
| 2017 | Fri Dec 29 | -0.52% | Tue Jan 2, 2018 | +0.83% |
| 2016 | Fri Dec 30 | -0.46% | Tue Jan 3, 2017 | +0.85% |
| 2015 | Thu Dec 31 | -0.94% | Mon Jan 4, 2016 | -1.53% |
| 2014 | Wed Dec 31 | -1.03% | Fri Jan 2, 2015 | -0.03% |
NYSE holiday calendar 2027
| Holiday | Date | Market |
|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day | Fri Jan 1 | Closed |
| Martin Luther King Jr. Day | Mon Jan 18 | Closed |
| Washington's Birthday (Presidents' Day) | Mon Feb 15 | Closed |
| Good Friday | Fri Mar 26 | Closed |
| Memorial Day | Mon May 31 | Closed |
| Juneteenth (observed) | Fri Jun 18 | Closed |
| Independence Day (observed) | Mon Jul 5 | Closed |
| Labor Day | Mon Sep 6 | Closed |
| Thanksgiving Day | Thu Nov 25 | Closed |
| Day after Thanksgiving | Fri Nov 26 | Early close 1:00 PM ET |
| Christmas Day (observed) | Fri Dec 24 | Closed |
Ten full closures and one early close, the same count as most years. The oddity of 2027 is the December pairing: because Christmas lands on a Saturday, the exchange observes it on Friday the 24th and there is no 1:00 PM Christmas Eve session at all. The 2026 version, with its half day, is covered in the Christmas Eve hours guide; the other half day of the season, Black Friday, is in the Thanksgiving week guide.
Quick answers
Is the stock market open on New Year's Eve 2026?
Yes. Thursday, December 31, 2026 is a full session, 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM Eastern, on the NYSE and Nasdaq. There is no early close.
Is the stock market open on New Year's Day 2027?
No. Friday, January 1, 2027 is a market holiday for stocks and bonds.
What is the first trading day of 2027?
Monday, January 4, 2027, with normal hours. January 1 is a holiday and January 2 and 3 fall on the weekend.
Does the stock market close early on New Year's Eve?
Stocks do not; the session runs to 4:00 PM. The bond market has a recommended 2:00 PM early close under SIFMA's schedule.
Is the bond market open on New Year's Eve 2026?
Yes, with a recommended early close at 2:00 PM Eastern. It is closed on January 1.
When does a December 31 stock trade settle?
Monday, January 4, 2027. Settlement is the next business day, and January 1 plus the weekend push it into the new year.
What has the S&P 500 done on the last trading day of the year?
Across the 76 year-end sessions since 1950 it closed higher 58% of the time with a median move of +0.14%. In the last twelve years it closed lower nine times. Past sessions describe themselves only.
What are the stock market holidays in 2027?
New Year's Day Jan 1, MLK Day Jan 18, Presidents' Day Feb 15, Good Friday Mar 26, Memorial Day May 31, Juneteenth observed Jun 18, Independence Day observed Jul 5, Labor Day Sep 6, Thanksgiving Nov 25, Christmas observed Dec 24, with one early close on Nov 26.
How we put this together. Stock market hours and the 2027 calendar are from the NYSE hours and calendars page; bond market hours are from SIFMA's holiday schedule; both were read on November 9, 2026. The year-end and first-session statistics are computed from Yahoo Finance daily closes of the S&P 500 index, January 1950 to November 2026, with volume ratios from 1993 onward. Settlement follows the current T+1 cycle. Nothing here is tax advice; the trade-date point is general and your situation may differ.
To watch rules-based entries and exits run through a holiday week without connecting a broker, start on the free plan and use the simulator.
JorgAI is software that carries out the rules you set in your own brokerage account. It is not investment advice and does not predict or promise results. Index history is descriptive only. Trading involves risk of loss.
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