Is the Stock Market Open on Thanksgiving 2023?

Thanksgiving will be celebrated this year on November 23, 2023. But how does Thanksgiving affect the stock markets?

Is the Stock Market Open on Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is a U.S. Stock Market Holiday, during which the U.S. Stock Market, including the Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), is closed. The following day, the stock market hours are also affected, with an early closing at 1 pm on Black Friday. This day off from trading gives time to celebrate gratitude, family, friends, and American freedom.

Can You Still Trade Stocks on Thanksgiving?

There are no active Thanksgiving trading hours. The stock market will also close early at 1 p.m. the following day, on Black Friday, November 24, 2023.

Is Thanksgiving a Federal Holiday?

Thanksgiving is a U.S. federal holiday, meaning all non-essential federal government offices will be closed, including the federal bank and post offices. Thanksgiving is also a Bank Holiday as recognized by the U.S. Federal Reserve, so commercial banks and other financial institutions will likely be closed or have very modified hours. The U.S. Bond Market will also be closed on November 23, 2023. Black Friday, however, is not a recognized federal holiday, so most banks will be open to customers, but expect potentially limited hours depending on your branch.

What is Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving Day is a U.S. holiday that originally celebrated the harvest and other blessings that occurred over the past year. Now, Americans use the day to show gratitude and to spend time with their loved ones, families, and friends, typically with a large feast featuring turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. Many believe that this feast was modeled after the first harvest feast in 1621, which was shared between the Pilgrims of Plymouth and the Wampanoag people following a good harvest season.

The Wampanoags were a Native American tribe who helped the Pilgrims get through the previous winter by offering them food when it was scarce in exchange for the Pilgrims’ alliance and protection against a rival tribe. Thanksgiving continued to be celebrated in New England afterward, mostly resembling a religious ceremony with services and prayer. By the late 1660s, many communities would come to celebrate with a harvest festival annually.

How did Thanksgiving become an official national holiday?

In 1789, the first President of the United States, George Washington, proclaimed the very first nationwide Thanksgiving celebration. Then in the 19th century, Sarah Josepha Hale campaigned for Thanksgiving to become a national holiday in the United States and won President Abraham Lincoln’s support in 1863. President Lincoln and those who came after him proclaimed Thanksgiving as a national holiday every year until 1941, when Congress officially established Thanksgiving as a national holiday, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of every November.

What Holidays Do The Stock Markets Close?

The next U.S. stock market holiday will be Christmas Day. The U.S. Stock Market celebrates nine holidays and one early closing every year: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President’s Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving (with an early close at 1 pm EST on the following day, also known as Black Friday), and Christmas Day.

Stay in the loop with modified holiday trading hours and a full list of stock market holidays. Head over to our Stock Market Holiday Calendar.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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