If you woke up this morning ready to check your portfolio or execute a few trades, you might notice things look a little too quiet. Honestly, it’s because the stock market is closed. Today, Friday, April 18, 2025, is Good Friday.
While most of the corporate world is still grinding away, the financial district is taking a breather. This isn't just a late start or an early close. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq are both fully shut down for the entire day.
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Is the stock market open today April 18 2025?
The short answer is a flat no.
It’s one of those quirks of the U.S. financial system. Good Friday isn't a federal holiday. The post office is delivering mail. Most big banks like JPMorgan Chase or Wells Fargo are still keeping their branches open. But the stock market? It follows its own set of rules. For 2025, the NYSE and Nasdaq have designated April 18 as a full market holiday.
You won’t see those green and red candles moving on your screen. No opening bell. No closing auction. If you try to place a market order right now, it’s basically just going to sit in a queue until Monday morning.
Why is the market closed if it’s not a federal holiday?
This is where things get interesting. Most market holidays align with federal ones—think Thanksgiving or Christmas. Good Friday is the outlier. The tradition of closing on this day goes back over a century. Historians point to the late 1800s when the exchange began observing the day out of religious respect and, frankly, because trading volume would drop so low it wasn't worth staying open.
Back then, the floor was the only way to trade. If the floor traders weren't there, the market didn't exist. Today, even though everything is electronic, the tradition stuck.
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) also plays a big role here. They usually recommend that the bond market closes as well. In 2025, they actually recommended a 2 p.m. early close yesterday (Thursday, April 17) followed by a full closure today.
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What about other markets?
Don't assume everything is offline just because Wall Street is quiet.
- The Bond Market: Like the NYSE, the U.S. bond market is closed today.
- International Exchanges: Many global markets follow suit. The London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) are also closed for Good Friday.
- Crypto: This is the one that never sleeps. If you're itching to trade, Bitcoin and Ethereum don't care about holidays. They are trading 24/7, though you might see lower liquidity since the big "institutional" money isn't moving through the usual pipes today.
- Futures: Most futures markets, like those for oil or gold, have abbreviated hours or are closed entirely depending on the specific contract.
It's sorta like a ghost town for traditional finance.
What happens to your pending orders?
If you set a "Good 'Til Cancelled" (GTC) order earlier this week, don't worry. It’s still there. It just won’t execute today. Your broker is essentially holding it in a digital waiting room. Once the opening bell rings at 9:30 a.m. ET on Monday, April 21, the gears start turning again.
One thing to watch out for is "gap" risk. Since the market is closed for three straight days, any big news that breaks over the weekend—geopolitical shifts, unexpected economic data—can cause the market to "gap" up or down on Monday. Your order might fill at a price significantly different than where the market closed on Thursday.
Planning for the rest of 2025
Knowing is the stock market open today April 18 2025 helps for the immediate moment, but you've gotta look ahead if you're managing a serious portfolio. The next time the market takes a full day off is Memorial Day on Monday, May 26.
Usually, the weeks surrounding these closures are weird. Volume gets thin. Price action gets choppy. Professionals call it "holiday trading." It’s basically when the "smart money" goes on vacation and the retail traders or algorithms are left to move the needle.
Real-world impact on your money
Settlement cycles are the boring part of investing that actually matters. In 2024, the SEC moved us to a "T+1" settlement cycle. This means most stock trades settle one business day after the trade.
If you sold a stock on Thursday, April 17, you might have expected your cash to be "settled" and ready by today. Nope. Because today is a market holiday, that settlement clock pauses. Your cash likely won't be fully settled until Monday. It's a tiny detail, but it can be annoying if you were planning on moving money into a high-yield savings account or paying a bill.
Actionable steps for your long weekend
Since you can't trade, use the time to actually look at your strategy without the stress of moving tickers.
- Review your stops: Check any stop-loss orders you have in place. Three-day weekends are prime time for unexpected volatility when things reopen.
- Check the earnings calendar: The week after Easter often kicks off or accelerates earnings season. See which big players are reporting next Tuesday or Wednesday.
- Audit your fees: Use the downtime to see how much your broker is actually skimming off the top in "hidden" fees or poor execution.
- Clean up your watchlist: Most of us have 50 stocks on a list we haven't looked at in months. Delete the junk.
The market reopens Monday, April 21, 2025, at 9:30 a.m. ET. Until then, the tickers are frozen.