Yes, U.S. stock markets are closed on Good Friday, which falls on April 3, 2026. The NYSE and Nasdaq shut down for the full day, including pre-market and after-hours sessions. Bond markets close early at noon Eastern rather than going dark completely, and most futures products are also offline. Banks, the Federal Reserve, and cryptocurrency exchanges all keep running, which answers the common question of whether markets are closed on Good Friday with a split: the exchanges are, the rest of the financial system isn’t.
Stock Exchanges Are Fully Closed
Both the NYSE and Nasdaq list April 3, 2026 as a closed trading day.1Nasdaq. Stock Market Holidays and Trading Hours No equities, ETFs, or listed options trade during regular hours. Pre-market (normally 4:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Eastern) and after-hours (4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern) sessions are also closed. There is no way to execute an equity trade on a U.S. exchange that day.
Good Friday is the only non-federal holiday that closes U.S. stock markets. It isn’t on the federal holiday list maintained by the Office of Personnel Management, but the exchanges have observed the closure as a tradition for decades.2U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Federal Holidays The Thursday before runs on a completely normal schedule with no early close, so the final chance to trade stocks is the regular 4:00 p.m. Eastern closing bell on Thursday, April 2.3ICE/NYSE Group. NYSE Group Announces 2024, 2025 and 2026 Holiday and Early Closings Calendar
Bond Markets Close Early at Noon
Fixed income follows a different schedule. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association issues annual recommendations for bond trading hours, and for Good Friday 2026, SIFMA recommends an early close at 12:00 p.m. Eastern.4SIFMA. Holiday Schedule That covers Treasuries, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, and secondary money market instruments like commercial paper.5SIFMA. SIFMA Issues 2026 and 2027 Fixed Income Recommendations for Full and Early Holiday Closes in the US, UK, and Japan
The guidance is a recommendation, not a mandate. SIFMA’s language says “each member firm should decide for itself whether its fixed income departments remain open for trading.”5SIFMA. SIFMA Issues 2026 and 2027 Fixed Income Recommendations for Full and Early Holiday Closes in the US, UK, and Japan In practice, nearly all major dealers follow the recommendation. Good Friday gets the earlier noon cutoff rather than the 2:00 p.m. close used for some other holidays, so bond traders have an even shorter window than usual. SIFMA does not recommend an early close on the Thursday before.4SIFMA. Holiday Schedule
Futures Trading Is Mostly Offline
CME Group’s Good Friday schedule shuts down most product lines. Equity index futures (S&P 500 E-minis, Nasdaq 100, Dow, Russell 2000) open briefly overnight and close at 8:15 a.m. Central Time, which is 9:15 a.m. Eastern, on Friday morning.6CME Group. CME Group Holiday and Trading Hours
Energy and metals products get no Friday session at all. CME’s 2026 Good Friday notice states that all NYMEX and COMEX products “will have their settlements copied from April 2nd to April 3rd” with “no trading for Friday April 3rd trade date in observance of Good Friday.” If you trade crude oil, natural gas, gold, or silver futures, your last chance to enter or exit a position is Thursday’s session.6CME Group. CME Group Holiday and Trading Hours
The March Jobs Report Lands on Good Friday 2026
One wrinkle is specific to this year. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has scheduled the March Employment Situation release for 8:30 a.m. Eastern on Friday, April 3, 2026.7U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Schedule of Releases for the Employment Situation The BLS is a federal agency and Good Friday isn’t a federal holiday, so the data publishes on schedule.
That drops a market-moving number into a largely closed market. Stock exchanges are shut, bond markets are winding down toward noon, and most futures products are either already closed or about to close. Equity index futures have a narrow window between the 8:30 a.m. release and the 9:15 a.m. Eastern close to react. CME has flagged that equity, FX, cryptocurrency, and interest rate futures will have “unique Closes and Settlements” that day because of the release.6CME Group. CME Group Holiday and Trading Hours A compressed reaction window on thin volume can produce sharp moves, and any sustained repricing stays bottled up until stocks reopen Monday.
Banks and Payment Systems Stay Open
Because Good Friday isn’t a federal holiday, the Federal Reserve operates normally. The Fed’s 2026 holiday calendar does not list it as a closure.8Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Federal Reserve Bank Holiday Schedule Fedwire runs on its regular schedule for large-value transfers, and ACH processes direct deposits, payroll, and bill payments as usual.
Direct deposits still clear, wire transfers still process, and bank branches remain open. The split between closed markets and open banks catches people out because the two systems look like they should run on the same calendar. They don’t. Exchanges set their holiday schedules independently of the Federal Reserve.
International Markets
Most major foreign markets observe Good Friday, and several go further by also closing on Easter Monday.
The London Stock Exchange closes on both Good Friday (April 3) and Easter Monday (April 6), with no trading or settlement in GBP instruments either day.9London Stock Exchange. Business Days – What Are Our Business Days Frankfurt follows the same pattern.10Deutsche Börse Cash Market. Trading Calendar and Trading Hours The Australian Securities Exchange closes on Good Friday.11Australian Securities Exchange. Trading Calendar for ASX Cash Market Products
The Toronto Stock Exchange closes on Good Friday but reopens on Easter Monday. That leaves an unusual Monday where U.S. and Canadian markets are open while London and Frankfurt are still on holiday, which can thin out volume in internationally linked stocks and complicate cross-border execution.
Settlement and the Monday After
U.S. equities now settle on a T+1 cycle, meaning trades normally settle one business day after execution. A trade placed Thursday, April 2 cannot settle on Good Friday because the markets and clearing systems are closed, so settlement shifts to Monday, April 6. That gives Thursday trades a T+2 timeline in calendar days without any change to the underlying rule.
Monday after Easter runs on a normal U.S. schedule, with the NYSE and Nasdaq opening at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.1Nasdaq. Stock Market Holidays and Trading Hours Easter Monday is not a U.S. market holiday. With London and Frankfurt closed, however, volume in multinational names and euro or sterling currency pairs tends to run lighter than usual.
Expect a price gap between Thursday’s close and Monday’s open. Three days of accumulated news, including the jobs report, get priced in at once. For 2026 specifically, the combination of a major economic release on Good Friday and European markets closed through Monday means gap risk is worth taking seriously if you’re holding leveraged positions or short-dated options across the weekend.
Cryptocurrency Is the Exception
Cryptocurrency exchanges run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including every holiday. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital assets trade through Good Friday and the full Easter weekend without interruption. If you want market exposure during the closure, crypto is the only major asset class where trading remains fully available. It will also react to the Friday morning jobs report in real time while equity investors wait for Monday.