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Market hours and sessions

US stock exchanges: 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday to Friday, with holidays (NYSE, Nasdaq). Pre-market and after-hours exist with thinner trading.

CMEThe big Chicago futures exchange (also lists bitcoin futures). futures trade nearly 24 hours on weekdays with a daily break; check CME's live trading-hours page for each product. ForexThe currency market. runs 24 hours on weekdays. Crypto never closes.

Opening times shift for you when daylight saving time changes, and the US and Europe switch on different dates. Check the exchange calendars rather than memorising times.

London Stock ExchangeThe UK's main stock exchange.: regular trading runs from 08:00 to 16:30 London time. At 16:30 the closing auction starts. Orders are matched at about 16:35. The end time has a random extra of up to 30 seconds and can be extended (LSE documents).

Forex sessions: forex has no official opening hours. Traders talk about an Asian, a London and a New York session, but these are rough conventions, not official hours. Any times you see for them are approximate. The nearest official clock is CME Group's FX futures: roughly Sunday evening to Friday afternoon US time, with a daily one-hour break.

Related

• Stocks (shares)
• Futures
• Gaps
• Economic news releases (CPI, jobs, Fed)

Sources & studies

1. NYSE: Holidays and trading hours
2. Nasdaq: Stock market hours and holidays
3. CME Group: Trading hours
4. London Stock Exchange FAQ: trading hours
5. London Stock Exchange: ETF & ETP market maker obligations (PDF, auction times)
6. CME Group: FX futures trading hours

MarketsStocks (shares)Futures

Last checked: 2026-11-04 · Educational, not financial advice.

Education only, not financial advice. No signals. Backtests are hypothetical: real trading can be worse. Past results don't predict future results.