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US Stock Market Hours and Daylight Saving Time, Explained

US market hours shift by an hour twice a year -- and depending on where you live, daylight saving time can make the market open earlier in your local time, not later.

Regular Session Hours (Eastern Time)

The NYSE and Nasdaq, the two major US exchanges, run their regular session Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET). Eastern Time itself shifts between UTC-5 (Eastern Standard Time, EST) and UTC-4 (Eastern Daylight Time, EDT) depending on daylight saving time.

During Daylight Saving Time (EDT) -- 13:30-20:00 UTC

From the second Sunday in March through the first Sunday in November, Eastern Time runs on EDT (UTC-4), so the regular session runs 13:30 to 20:00 UTC. In Japan Standard Time (UTC+9), that's 22:30 to 5:00 the next morning; in China Standard Time (UTC+8), that's 21:30 to 4:00 the next morning.

During Standard Time (EST) -- 14:30-21:00 UTC

From the first Sunday in November through the second Sunday in March, Eastern Time reverts to EST (UTC-5), pushing the regular session to 14:30-21:00 UTC. In Japan Standard Time, that's 23:30 to 6:00 the next morning; in China Standard Time, that's 22:30 to 5:00 the next morning -- one hour later than during daylight saving time in both zones, since neither observes its own DST.

Pre-Market and After-Hours Trading

Trading also happens outside the regular session: pre-market typically runs from around 4:00 a.m. ET until the 9:30 a.m. open, and after-hours typically runs from the 4:00 p.m. close until around 8:00 p.m. ET (exact windows vary by broker). Because many US companies report earnings right after the closing bell, after-hours trading often sees the sharpest price swings of the day.

What to Check With Your Broker

Most international brokers support real-time trading during the regular session, but support for pre-market and after-hours trading, and which order types are allowed during those sessions, varies from broker to broker. It's worth checking your broker's current policy directly, especially around the daylight saving transition dates when published hours can be easy to misread.

US Market Holidays

US exchanges close for American holidays like New Year's Day, Independence Day (July 4), Thanksgiving, and Christmas -- a schedule that doesn't line up with holidays observed elsewhere. Some holidays also come with an early close (often 1:00 p.m. ET) rather than a full closure, so it's worth checking the exchange's official holiday calendar ahead of any position tied to a specific date.

Why Eastern Time is the reference point no matter where you live

US market hours are always set in Eastern Time first, and every other time zone's schedule is just a translation of that. Because most of Asia doesn't observe its own daylight saving time, a market that opens at a fixed 9:30 a.m. ET actually appears to shift by an hour in local time twice a year in Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, and similar zones -- even though nothing about the US market's own hours ever changed.

Extended hours come with real tradeoffs

Pre-market and after-hours sessions generally see far lower trading volume than the regular session, which tends to widen the gap between the best buy and sell price and make a market order riskier to use. A limit order is generally the safer choice outside regular hours, and it's worth expecting more price volatility around news and earnings releases during these windows.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does daylight saving time make the market open later or earlier for someone outside the US?

Earlier, for most of Asia. During US daylight saving time, the time difference to zones like Japan or China narrows, so the market opens an hour earlier in local time than it does once standard time returns -- the market itself hasn't moved, but the local clock time has.

When does US daylight saving time start and end?

It starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. Around those two dates, the local-time translation of the regular session shifts by an hour in every time zone outside the US that doesn't also observe its own daylight saving time.