NYSE Holidays 2016 Schedule

NYSE Holidays and Trading Hours for 2016

In 2016 the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) will observe the U.S. holidays that you find listed in the NYSE Holidays 2016 Schedule below.

Though all NYSE Arca Equities will adhere to the same holiday schedule as the NYSE, exact trading hours on Arca may vary from those on NYSE where the latter closes early. For further information about Arca Equities extended trading session, consult the table below.

View holidays for other stock exchanges: Stocks Knowledge Base

NYSE Holidays 2016 Schedule

HOLIDAY 2015 2016
New Years Day January 1 January 1
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day January 19 January 18
Washington’s Birthday* February 16 February 15
Good Friday April 3 March 25
Memorial Day May 25 May 30
Independence Day July 4 (Observed July 3) July 4
Labor Day September 7 September 5
Thanksgiving Day November 26** November 24**
Christmas December 25*** December 25 (Observed December 26)***

Rules and Traditions

Where holidays fall outside of normal trading days or holidays are traditionally observed on different dates during a given year, the following rules govern when the exchange closes:

  • On the Friday after Thanksgiving the market has a tradition of closing early at 1:00 p.m. ET.
  • When any holiday falls on a Saturday, the market will be closed on the Friday
  • There is an exception to the above when the Friday is the end of a monthly or yearly accounting period.
  • When any stock market holiday falls on a Sunday, the market will be closed the Monday.

NYSE holidays that are determined by day-of-month rather than by date are as follows:

  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is always observed on the third Monday in January.
  • President’s Day is always observed on the third Monday in February.
  • Memorial Day is always observed on the last Monday in May
  • Labor Day is always observed on the first Monday in September

Normal Trading Hours

The normal trading hours for major U.S. stock exchanges including NYSE, are from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Pre-market trading takes place between from 4:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m, and after-hours trading following a normal session runs from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Unplanned Closures

Although the exchange follows the NYSE 2016 holiday schedule above, it may be forced to close in exceptional circumstances

Unplanned disruptions to scheduled trading days in the past have included extreme weather conditions, national emergencies such as the events of 9/11, and technical glitches. The first ever unplanned closure occurred in 1865 following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, which caused the exchange to shut down for over a week.

The most sustained disruption came in 1914 at the start of World War 1, when the exchange ceased trading for over twenty weeks. The attack on Pearl Harbor, by contrast, did not lead to any closure.

In the event of the death of a U.S. president, the NYSE will select a day of mourning (typically the day of the funeral) for closure.

Closures caused by technical glitches since the computerization of the exchange have been few, with one notable recent instance occurring on Wednesday 8th July, 2015.

‘Circuit breakers’ (referred to as ‘price limits’ on commodity exchanges), are put in place as fail-safe measures to halt trading in the event of extreme volatility and calamitous price cascades, came into effect in 1997 and then again on May 6th, 2010, during what has been dubbed “the flash crash”. The circuit breakers operate under the revised NYSE Exchange Rule 80B, and are set to halt trading following price declines of 10%, 20%, and 30%, from the market’s price at the beginning of each calendar quarter. Cessations in trading have a predetermined duration of 30 minutes, one hour, two hours, or the rest of the trading session, dependent on the degree of the price decline and the time of day at which these trigger levels are elected.

Planned Closures for Special Events

There are no planned closures for special events on the NYSE 2016 holiday schedule, but in the past the exchange has closed to mark various events of historic or national significance.

The exchange closed for several days in August 1945 following victory in Japan at the end of the Second World war, as Americans celebrated the return of U.S. troops. In 1969 there was a planned closure of the exchange on 21st July to honor the Apollo 11 moon landing, and the NYSE closed for three days in 1880 to mark the centenary of George Washington’s presidency, and again in 1892 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of the New World.

Though not strictly closures and not included in the holiday schedule, traders on the floor of the exchange will typically observe moments of silence in commemoration of historical events.

About the New York Stock Exchange

The New York Stock Exchange is a U.S. stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street, Lower Manhattan, New York City, New York. It is the world’s largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies by a considerable amount, with an average daily trading volume of around $169 billion.

The busy trading floor is composed of 21 rooms, with electronic trading posts manned by designated market makers as well as clerks and accounting staff. The exchange buildings were designated National Historic Landmarks in 1978.

The NYSE is owned by Intercontinental Exchange, an American holding company it also lists (NYSE: ICE). Previously, it was part of NYSE Euronext, following the NYSE’s merger with the fully electronic stock exchange Euronext in 2007. Both NYSE and Euronext now operate as divisions of the Intercontinental Exchange.

The purpose of the NYSE, to provide a venue for the exchange in shares of stocks in the companies it lists, hasn’t changed at all during its lifetime, although the electronic trading has significantly transformed this process over the past few decades. Nevertheless, an ‘open-outcry’ auction model is still practiced on the trading floor, facilitated by the brokers of NYSE member firms.

A feature of the NYSE trading floor well known to the public is the ceremony of the opening and closing bell, which mark both the beginning and the end of each trading day. From 1995 onward, the exchange began to have special guests – celebrities or the representatives of large companies – ring the bell as part of highly publicized events such as product launches. Ringing the opening bell is widely considered to be an honor and a symbol of lifetime achievement.

Of course, the bell isn’t rung on NYSE holidays!

NYSE Holidays 2016 Schedule and Trading Hours

Resources: The New York Stock Exchange website.