You wake up on a Monday in mid-October, ready to check your portfolio, but you notice the post office is locked and your local bank branch has a "Closed" sign on the door. It’s Columbus Day, also widely observed as Indigenous Peoples' Day. Naturally, you assume Wall Street is also taking a nap.
Actually, that's not the case at all.
Are the stock markets open on Columbus Day? Yes, they absolutely are. While the federal government and the banking system take the day off, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq keep their doors wide open for a full day of trading. It’s one of those weird quirks of the American financial calendar that trips up even seasoned investors every single year.
Why the stock market stays open when banks close
It feels counterintuitive. If it’s a federal holiday, shouldn’t everything be closed? Not in the world of equities. The stock market doesn’t follow the federal holiday list to the letter.
Basically, the NYSE and Nasdaq only shut down for nine or ten specific holidays a year. Columbus Day simply isn't one of them. While your mail won't arrive and you can’t walk into a Chase or Bank of America branch to talk to a teller, you can still buy 100 shares of Apple at 10:30 a.m. without a hitch.
The reason is largely historical and commercial. The private sector exchanges decide their own schedules based on trading volume and global competition. If they closed every time the government did, they’d lose out on massive amounts of transaction fees and liquidity.
The bond market is a different story
Here is where it gets kinda confusing. While you can trade stocks, the U.S. Bond Market is closed on Columbus Day.
The bond market follows the recommendations of SIFMA (the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association). SIFMA generally aligns with the Federal Reserve’s holiday schedule. Since Columbus Day is a federal bank holiday, the Treasury market takes a break.
This creates a lopsided trading environment. You’ve got stocks moving, but the fixed-income world is silent. This often leads to lower trading volume in the stock market because many institutional "big money" players stay on the sidelines when they can't hedge their positions with bonds or settle cash transactions through the Fed.
What this means for your money
If you’re planning to trade on October 12 (in 2026), you need to be aware of the "settlement trap."
Since banks are closed, Columbus Day is not considered a "settlement day." In the stock market, most trades take one business day to "settle" (known as T+1). If you sell a stock on the Friday before Columbus Day, you might expect your cash to be ready on Monday.
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Nope.
Because the banking system is offline, that settlement gets pushed to Tuesday. If you’re a day trader or someone who needs quick access to cash, this 24-hour delay can be a massive headache. Honestly, it’s the biggest reason why many retail traders find Columbus Day annoying rather than helpful.
2026 Holiday Snapshot: What’s Open?
| Institution | Status on Columbus Day (Oct 12, 2026) |
|---|---|
| New York Stock Exchange | Open (Normal Hours) |
| Nasdaq | Open (Normal Hours) |
| U.S. Bond Market | Closed |
| Commercial Banks | Closed |
| Federal Reserve | Closed |
| U.S. Postal Service | Closed |
Is trading on Columbus Day a good idea?
Low volume can be a double-edged sword. With many professional desks at major banks operating with "skeleton crews," the market can sometimes be strangely quiet. Other times, that lack of liquidity means that a single large trade can cause a bigger price swing than it normally would.
You’ve probably seen it before—a "ghost town" market where the bid-ask spreads get a little wider and the price action feels a bit erratic.
If you're a long-term investor, it doesn't really matter. Your automated 401(k) contribution or your limit order will likely execute just fine. But if you’re trying to time a volatile breakout, just remember that the "smart money" might be out playing golf while you're staring at the candles.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2026
Once Columbus Day passes, the market schedule gets a bit more "normal" until the end of the year. Veterans Day in November follows a similar pattern—stocks open, bonds and banks closed—but then we hit the big shutdowns.
Thanksgiving (November 26, 2026) will see everything closed, followed by an early close at 1:00 p.m. ET on Black Friday. Then you have the Christmas and New Year’s Day closures to navigate.
The best thing you can do is check your brokerage's specific "funding" schedule. Even if the market is open, your ability to move money from your savings account into your brokerage account will be blocked until Tuesday.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Check your liquidity: If you need cash by a certain date in October, sell your positions by the Wednesday prior to ensure settlement clears before the banking holiday.
- Watch the spreads: If you trade on Columbus Day, use limit orders instead of market orders to avoid getting hit by wider spreads caused by lower volume.
- Calendar sync: Mark November 11 (Veterans Day) on your calendar now—it's the only other day in 2026 where this weird "stocks open, banks closed" split happens.