With more than 3,300 publicly-traded companies, the Nasdaq Stock Exchange is the world’s second largest stock market.
Its normal trading hours are from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. But there are certain NASDAQ holidays when it isn’t open for business.
Nasdaq Holiday Schedule
| Nasdaq Holidays | 2019 | 2020 |
| New Year’s Day | January 1 | January 1 |
| Martin Luther King, Jr. Day | January 21 | January 20 |
| Washington’s Birthday / Presidents Day | February 18 | February 17 |
| Good Friday | April 19 | April 10 |
| Memorial Day | May 27 | May 25 |
| Independence Day | July 4 | July 3 |
| Labor Day | September 2 | September 7 |
| Thanksgiving Day | November 28 | November 26 |
| Christmas Day | December 25 | December 25 |
On July 3, 201, November 29, 2019 (the day after Thanksgiving), and December 24, 2019 this market will close early at 1:00 PM.
On November 27, 2020 and December 25, 2020 this market will close early at 1:00 PM.
Things to Know about the Nasdaq Holiday Schedule
It’s important to note, although the third Monday in February has become popularly known as “President’s Day”, the Nasdaq Stock Exchange still follows the original designation of “Washington’s Birthday” as an exchange holiday.
That’s because Wall Street is very traditional. In fact, until 1953, it had observed Lincoln’s birthday (February 12), Columbus Day (October 12), Veterans Day (November 11), and often Election Day (the first Tuesday of November).
But “Washington’s Birthday” was first declared a federal holiday by an 1879 act of Congress and then modified by The Monday Holiday Law, enacted in 1968. That law shifted the date of the commemoration of Washington’s Birthday from February 22 to the third Monday in February, which is used to this day.
It’s worth mentioning, whenever a president dies, the exchanges select a day of mourning. For example: January 2nd, 2007, was chosen as the day to mourn the passing of President Gerald Ford.
The Nasdaq exchange also closes on the Christian holidays of Good Friday and Christmas. But since 1971, it has also closed unexpectedly for a number of reasons:
- Power blackouts (July 14, 1977)
- Hurricanes (September 27, 1985)
- Presidential Funerals (1972, 1973, 1994, 2004, 2007)
- Terrorist Attacks (September 11-14, 2011)
Tracking the Nasdaq
The Nasdaq was originally formed by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) in 1971. Today, it is owned and operated by the Nasdaq OMX Group (Nasdaq: NADQ).
Although you can find a number of financial, consumer, biotech, and industrial companies, as the world’s first electronic stock market, most stocks trading on the Nasdaq are technology and internet related.
These firms are typically more speculative than those trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which makes the Nasdaq exchange typically more volatile as well.
But there are several other ways to reduce your risk exposure. The Powershares QQQ Trust Series 1 (Nasdaq: QQQ), is an example of an exchange traded fund (ETF) that only tracks stocks in the Nasdaq 100 index.