RiskPicksUS Stock Market Hours
Regular trading hours
9:30 AM to 4:00 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. This is when the full market is open with maximum liquidity and the tightest spreads.
Extended hours
- Pre-market: 4:00 AM to 9:30 AM ET. Limited liquidity. Many brokers only allow pre-market trading starting at 7:00 AM. Earnings reports released before the open are reflected in pre-market prices
- After-hours: 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM ET. Also limited liquidity. Earnings reports released after the close show their impact here
Key times of day traders watch
- 4:00 AM: pre-market opens. Early movers and gap scanners start here
- 9:30 AM: opening bell. The most volatile and highest-volume period of the day. Many day traders only trade the first 30-60 minutes
- 10:00-10:30 AM: the opening drive often ends here. Fakeouts from the open reverse around this time
- 11:30 AM - 2:00 PM: the midday lull. Volume drops, price action gets choppy. Many traders stop trading during this window
- 3:00 PM: power hour begins. Volume picks up as institutions execute end-of-day orders
- 4:00 PM: closing bell. Mutual funds price their shares. After-hours trading begins
Market holidays
The market is closed on major US holidays (New Year's Day, MLK Day, Presidents' Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas). It closes early at 1:00 PM ET the day before some holidays.
Most new traders think they need to trade all day. Experienced traders know that 80% of the best opportunities happen in the first hour and the last hour. The midday lull is where boredom leads to overtrading.