US stock market open in UK time

Trading the main New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq session is open to you between 2:30pm and 9:00pm. The local time in New York is Eastern Time, written as ET, and both exchanges run on it. Trading in the core session goes from 9:30am to 4:00pm ET. That schedule applies on every weekday.

Every day begins and finishes with an auction. During it, the exchange takes queued buy and sell orders and pairs them at one price. On the main NYSE list, you can enter orders from 6:30am ET for the 9:30am ET Core Open Auction. NYSE then runs a Closing Imbalance Period from 3:50pm to 4:00pm ET before its Closing Auction. Nasdaq marks its 9:30am to 4:00pm ET session with Opening and Closing Crosses.

On their platforms, IG, CMC Markets and Capital.com show these hours in local time for UK traders. If you trade currencies, we also cover the London forex session and UK forex hours.

In the UK, US market hours fall 1 hour earlier whenever the spring and autumn clock changes happen. In UK time, the main session opens at 1:30pm and closes at 8:00pm. The 1 hour shift also applies to pre-market trading, which begins at 8:00am UK time.

It happens because US and UK clocks don't shift at the same moment. US daylight saving time runs from 8 March at 2:00am to 1 November at 2:00am in 2026. At 1:00am on 29 March 2026, UK clocks go forward by 1 hour. The clocks turn back 1 hour on 25 October 2026, at 2:00am.

The US has moved its clocks forward in March at 2:00am, then back in November at 2:00am, since 2007. Check your broker ticket during March and October. That way you won't miss the bell.

If extended US sessions are on offer from your broker, you can trade without waiting for the 2:30pm UK bell. Beyond the main exchange, automated computer systems called electronic communication networks match orders, and they run the pre-market and after-hours sessions. Nasdaq's current hours run 4:00am to 8:00pm ET, or 9:00am to 1:00am in UK winter time.

Early hours across the NYSE group come from the exchange division that lists the share. On NYSE Arca Equities, orders queue from 2:30am ET, and early trading runs 4:00am to 9:30am ET. For NYSE American, NYSE National and NYSE Texas, orders queue from 6:30am ET and trading runs until 9:30am ET, starting at 7:00am. Late sessions for those exchanges end at 8:00pm ET.

Nasdaq's 23-hour, 5-day schedule is planned to start on Sunday 6 December 2026, subject to regulatory approval. This adds an overnight session, which runs from 9:00pm to 4:00am ET and begins at 9:00pm ET on Sunday. Each day, trading pauses for 1 hour between 8:00pm and 9:00pm ET.

With IG, you can trade selected US shares outside regular hours using spread betting and CFDs. From Monday to Thursday, trading hours run from 9:00am until 1:00am UK time. Friday, IG extended share trading runs from 9:00am until 10:00pm.

Take care outside the UK window of 2:30pm to 9:00pm. Fewer buyers and sellers mean lower liquidity and sharper price jumps. Thin volume widens the spread too: the gap between the buy and sell price. Most brokers accept only limit orders during extended hours, so you avoid a surprise price.

On US public holidays, both exchanges stay closed. You'll find no New Year's Day closure in 2028, since Saturday 1 January 2028 falls on a weekend.

You'll also find half-day sessions, with NYSE equity markets closing at 1:00pm ET, which is 6:00pm UK time. On those half-day dates, eligible options keep trading to 1:15pm ET, while late sessions shut at 5:00pm ET. The Friday after Thanksgiving brings that 1:00pm ET close: 27 November 2026, 26 November 2027 and 24 November 2028. On Thursday 24 December 2026, and also on Monday 3 July 2028, NYSE markets close at 1:00pm ET.

Nasdaq's planned overnight schedule means weekday holiday trading picks up again at 9:00pm ET that evening.