Is the Stock Market Open on Columbus Day 2026? NYSE Trades, Bond Market Closed
Yes, the stock market is open on Columbus Day, Monday, October 12, 2026. The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq both run their regular 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern session, because neither exchange lists Columbus Day, also observed as Indigenous Peoples' Day, as a 2026 market closure on its official trading calendar. The bond market is the one major piece that stays shut, following the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's recommended full close of U.S. dollar fixed income for the day.
The split comes down to two separate calendars. Columbus Day is a federal holiday, and the Federal Reserve observes it: Federal Reserve Financial Services lists October 12 as a scheduled FedCash and FedACH holiday, so banks and the central bank's payment and settlement systems are closed for the day. Government and corporate bond trading depends on that settlement backbone, so SIFMA recommends that the U.S. dollar fixed income market close, and cash Treasuries, corporates and municipal bonds stay off. Equities live on a different schedule. The NYSE and Nasdaq keep their own holiday lists, and neither one closes for Columbus Day, while CME Group keeps its futures markets trading, with equity index and Treasury futures on their normal electronic sessions. Futures matter here because they give the market a functioning electronic yield reference even when cash Treasuries cannot trade or settle, which is why index and bond futures stay active and find volume on a day like this.
Related reading: 75% of the S&P 500 Fell in September; Index 2% from Records.
An equity session with no live Treasury reference has mattered before. On Monday, October 9, 2023, U.S. stocks traded with the cash Treasury market closed for Columbus Day, the first Wall Street session after Hamas's surprise attack on Israel over the weekend. With no working cash bond market, the dollar and futures carried the repricing, and when Treasuries reopened on Tuesday, October 10, 2023, the benchmark 10-year yield posted its largest one-day drop since mid-July as traders finally caught up on the news on that schedule, per Reuters. The episode is a reminder that a federal holiday can create a one-day gap in the yield signal that sits underneath every equity valuation, and that thin liquidity can stretch a move that would normally be spread across two sessions.
Practically, the October 12 session likely hinges on global news rather than U.S. data, because no major federal economic releases are scheduled on a day when banks and federal offices are closed. That changes fast on Wednesday, October 14, when the Labor Department's September consumer price index is due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, per the BLS release calendar, and the Social Security Administration plans to announce the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment the same day, built off the CPI for wage earners. Forecasts have centered the COLA in the mid-3 percent range, and MarketIntelLabs covered the projection on October 8. Because so much of the week's data is concentrated in that single morning, the yield curve is likely to do its biggest repricing of the week at the 8:30 a.m. print, and the report is the last major consumer-price read before the Federal Reserve's next policy decision.
For the broader framework, see our Fed policy coverage.
Related reading: Nasdaq record through a 5.31% ten-year: the two-market tape that decides it.
Everything returns to full operation on Tuesday, October 13, when the cash bond market reopens and a busier data and earnings calendar resumes. Counting ahead, the next NYSE closures come in late November: Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 26, an early 1:00 p.m. close on Friday, November 27, an early close on Thursday, December 24, and Christmas Day on Friday, December 25, all per the NYSE's 2026 holidays and trading hours page. SIFMA schedules an early 2:00 p.m. close for bonds on November 27 and December 24. Veterans Day on Wednesday, November 11 is a federal and banking holiday but not an NYSE, Nasdaq or CME closure, so equities and futures trade that day.
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Consult a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Related reading: Microsoft stock jumps 2% to $533 as an AI and Azure rally returns.
Sources
NYSE, Holidays and Trading Hours
Nasdaq, U.S. Stock Market Holiday Schedule
Related reading: OpenAI Revenue at $50B, Not $70B: Why AI and Chips Sank.
SIFMA, Recommended 2026 Holiday Schedule
Federal Reserve Financial Services, Holiday Schedules
CME Group, Holiday and Trading Hours
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index release calendar
Reuters, US yields drop after Fed comments (October 10, 2023)
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