If you’re staring at your trading app wondering why the tickers aren't moving, you aren't alone. Does stock market open tomorrow is the question of the hour, and the short answer is a flat no.
Tomorrow is Monday, January 19, 2026. Because it is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq will be completely dark. No opening bell. No closing cross. Just a quiet day on Wall Street while the rest of the world keeps spinning.
It’s easy to forget that while the internet never sleeps, the big exchanges still follow a very old-school federal calendar. Honestly, it catches people off guard every year. You might see some global markets moving, but for the U.S. cash equity markets, the doors are locked until Tuesday morning.
The Specifics of the January 19 Market Holiday
So, what exactly stays shut? Basically, everything that involves U.S. stocks. The NYSE and Nasdaq have both confirmed they are closed for the full day. This isn't one of those "early close" situations like the day after Thanksgiving where they let everyone go at 1:00 p.m. It’s a total shutdown.
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This means if you try to place a market order at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, it’s just going to sit there in a queue. It won’t execute until the market reopens on Tuesday, January 20, at 9:30 a.m. ET. For a lot of retail traders, this is a "set it and forget it" day, but if you're a day trader, the lack of liquidity is a real pain.
What about the Bond Market and Futures?
The bond market is even more strict. According to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), the U.S. bond market is also fully closed tomorrow. If you're looking to trade Treasuries, you’re out of luck.
Futures are a bit of a different beast. While the main stock market is closed, CME Globex futures—like the S&P 500 E-minis—often trade on a modified schedule. Usually, they’ll trade until about 1:00 p.m. ET on holidays like this and then pause until the evening session. But don't expect much action. The volume is typically so low that price movements can be erratic and kinda meaningless.
Why Do We Close for MLK Day Anyway?
The stock market hasn't always closed for this holiday. In fact, MLK Day only became an official NYSE holiday in 1998. Before that, it was a regular trading day. It’s now one of the ten standard holidays the U.S. exchanges observe every year.
It’s worth noting that the market doesn’t close for every federal holiday. For example, they stay open on Veterans Day and Columbus Day (Indigenous Peoples' Day), even though banks and post offices might be closed. It’s a weird quirk of the financial world. They prioritize liquidity over almost everything else, except for the "Big Ten" holidays.
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The Rest of the 2026 Holiday Calendar
If you're trying to plan your trading year, it helps to know when the next breaks are coming. After tomorrow, the next time the market shuts down is Monday, February 16, for Presidents' Day.
Here is how the rest of 2026 looks for the major exchanges:
- Good Friday: April 3 (Always a weird one because it's not a federal holiday, but the market closes anyway).
- Memorial Day: May 25.
- Juneteenth: June 19.
- Independence Day: July 3 (Observed, since the 4th is a Saturday).
- Labor Day: September 7.
- Thanksgiving: November 26 (With an early 1:00 p.m. close on November 25).
- Christmas: December 25.
How the Closure Affects Your Money
You might think a day off doesn't matter, but "does stock market open tomorrow" has implications for settlement dates. Since tomorrow isn't a business day, the "T+1" settlement rule gets pushed back.
If you sold a stock on Friday, January 16, that trade normally would settle on Monday. But since Monday is a holiday, the cash won't actually hit your account or settle officially until Tuesday. This can be a headache if you were counting on that liquidity for a bill or a different investment.
International Ripple Effects
Just because the U.S. is closed doesn't mean London, Tokyo, or Hong Kong are. European and Asian markets will be open as usual tomorrow.
What happens then is something called "price discovery gap." If some massive news breaks in Europe tomorrow while the NYSE is closed, you might see American Depository Receipts (ADRs) for foreign companies moving on their home exchanges. When the U.S. market finally opens on Tuesday, prices might "gap" up or down significantly to catch up with what happened while we were asleep.
Actionable Steps for Traders Today
Since you can't trade tomorrow, the best move is to use this time for prep. Honestly, most pros use holiday weekends to review their portfolios without the stress of ticking prices.
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Review your open orders. If you have "Good 'Til Canceled" (GTC) orders sitting out there, make sure you're still comfortable with them. A lot can happen over a long weekend.
Check your margin. If you're carrying a margin balance, remember that interest still accrues on days the market is closed. It’s a small amount, but it adds up over a three-day weekend.
Monitor the futures on Sunday night. Around 6:00 p.m. ET tonight, the futures markets will open. This will give you the first hint of how the market is "feeling" about the week ahead, even if the actual stock market stays closed tomorrow.
Prepare for Tuesday volatility. Usually, the morning after a long holiday weekend is busier than a normal Tuesday. Traders are trying to bake in three days' worth of news into the first hour of trading. Expect some extra swing in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 right at 9:30 a.m.
The best thing you can do tomorrow is actually take the day off. The market isn't going anywhere, and sometimes the best trade is the one you don't make when the liquidity is bone-dry. Use the time to reset, check your long-term charts, and get ready for a full week of action starting Tuesday.