NYSE Holidays

The New York Stock Exchange is also referred to as the NYSE.
This Stock Exchange is located at 11 Wall Street, Lower Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States.
The NYSE is operated by NYSE Euronext.
The normal working hours of NYSE are:
Monday through Friday: 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM (Eastern Time).
For the year 2012 -2013, NYSE, NYSE MKT, NYSE Amex Options, NYSE Arco, NYSE Arco 
Options, and NYSE Bonds will observe the following U.S. holidays:

NYSE Holidays for the year 2012

1.    January 2 (New Years Day)
2.    January 16 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)
3.    February 20 (Washington's Birthday)
4.    April 6 (Good Friday)
5.    May 28 (Memorial Day)
6.    July 4 (Independence Day)
7.    September 3 (Labor Day)
8.    November 22 (Thanksgiving Day)
9.    December 25 (Christmas)

NYSE Holidays for the year 2013

1.    January 1 (New Years Day)
2.    January 21 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)
3.    February 18(Washington's Birthday)
4.    March 29 (Good Friday)
5.    May 27 (Memorial Day)
6.    July 4 (Independence Day)
7.    September 2 (Labor Day)
8.    November 28 (Thanksgiving Day)
9.    December 25 (Christmas)

Even though the day after Thanksgiving (Friday) is not a holiday officially, there is a tradition of closing the market at 1:00 p.m. ET. Therefore, in 2012, each market will close early at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 3, 2012, Friday, November 23, 2012 (the day after Thanksgiving) and Monday, December 24, 2012. Crossing Session orders will be accepted beginning at 1:00 p.m. for continuous executions until 1:30 p.m. on this date.

Similarly, in 2013, each market will close trading early on Wednesday, July 3, 2013, Friday, November 29, 2013 (the day after Thanksgiving) and Tuesday, December 24, 2013. Crossing Session orders will be accepted beginning at 1:00 p.m. for continuous executions until 1:30 p.m. on this date.

Since 1953, there have been attempts by exchanges to reduce the number of official closing days, knowing that investors want the markets open as long as possible.

Due to the Internet and computerized trading, markets are being pressurized to be open on all days for 24 hours. But breaks in trading on weekends help moderate volatility and many trading professionals need this downtime. Additionally, no one wants to hear that the stock market has crashed on a Sunday morning.

Since 1885, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has unexpectedly closed for a number of reasons like computer failures such as circuit breakers, because the NYSE has to stop trading when the market declines by a certain percentage; power failures, especially in the 1970s; hurricanes, war (in 1914 at the beginning of World War I, the exchange was closed for five months, but never for World War II); terrorist attacks (September 11-14, 2001)

The third Monday in February has become popularly known as President’s Day Still, the NYSE follows the original designation of Washington’s Birthday as an Exchange holiday. In 1879, Congress passed an act, declaring Washington’s Birthday as a federal holiday. This was then modified in 1968 by The Monday Holiday law, which shifted the date of commemoration of Washington’s Birthday from February 22 to the third Monday in February that is used to this day.
Whenever a President passes away, a day of mourning is selected by the exchanges.

The stock exchanges, especially the NYSE on Wall Street and the London Stock Exchange in England are closed on the Christian holidays of Good Friday and Christmas.

 Wall Street, being very traditional, has refused to change Washington’s Birthday observance to President’s Day. Until 1953, they observed Lincoln’s birthday (February 12), Columbus Day (October 12), Veterans Day (November 11), and often Election Day (the first Tuesday of November).
In 1968, the NYSE closed on the funeral day of a private citizen for the first time, viz., Martin Luther King Jr. But the Exchange did not add Martin Luther King Day until 1998, many years after it was declared as a national holiday. When J.P.Morgan passed away in 1913, the Exchange closed, but only for two hours.

Stock Market

.There are a few special stock market holiday rules as follows:

• Even though the day after Thanksgiving (Friday) is not an official holiday, the market has a tradition of closing at 1:00 p.m. ET.
• When any stock market holiday falls on a Saturday, the market will be closed on the previous day (Friday) unless 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 next day (Monday).

Some market holidays are observed on different dates each year:

• 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

NYSE, NASDAQ and NYSE AMEX Trading Hours

The regular trading hours of the NASDAQ Stock Market are from

9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET.

The NYSE AMEX Equities Stock Market is open from Monday through Friday

(9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET.)

Holiday (Market Stock US) SelectNet Pre-hours Trading Session

From 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. ET