Stock Market Trading Hours: What Time Is the Stock Market Open Today?

When does the stock market open? It's a simple question with more answers than you'd think.

Regular trading hours for the U.S. stock market, including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq), are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., except stock market holidays. (All times Eastern unless otherwise indicated.) On early-closure days, typically right before or right after a market holiday, regular stock trading ends at 1 p.m.

That's the easy part.

Thing is, trading also can occur outside of normal stock market hours. On days with a regular session, for instance, there is "pre-market" trading; while hours vary, they can extend as early as 4 a.m. and go through the market open at 9:30 a.m. Then there are "after-hours" sessions, which span from 4 to 8 p.m.

These trades are performed on "electronic communications networks," or ECNs, and directly pair buyers and sellers rather than using a middleman. While this kind of trading once was only accessible to large institutional buyers, today brokers such as Fidelity and Charles Schwab facilitate this kind of trading.

As for the weekends: There are no regular trading hours for stocks on Saturdays or Sundays. However, if you read a headline on a Sunday night saying that stock futures are down, that's because most futures contracts (including equity futures, but also commodities such as oil and agricultural products and other investments) begin trading Sunday night on the aforementioned exchanges.

Commodities

Commodities such as oil, gold and wheat trade electronically from 6 p.m. Sunday to 5 p.m. Friday on CME Group exchanges. Regular trading hours at the competing Intercontinental Exchange run from 8 p.m. Sunday to 6 p.m. Friday.

International Stocks

Investors interested in what international bourses are doing in real time might need an evening pot of coffee, depending on what country they're following.

Here are the trading times for some of the largest global stock exchanges. (All times represent regular trading hours, Monday-Friday, and are listed in Eastern time.)

• Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX): 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Mexico Stock Exchange (BMV): 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• London Stock Exchange (LSE): 3 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
• Euronext Paris (EPA): 3 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
• Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FRA): 3 a.m. to 11 a.m.
• Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE): 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., 11:30 p.m. to 2 a.m.
• Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE): 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., 1 a.m. to 3 a.m.
• Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE): 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., 1 a.m. to 3 a.m.
• Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKG): 9:30 p.m. to 12 a.m., 1 a.m. to 4 a.m.

Cryptocurrencies

The digital currencies market is the easiest schedule to remember. Cryptocurrencies trade 24 hours a day, seven days a week. From Bitcoin to the smallest altcoin, if you have an itch, you can scratch it whenever you'd like.