All US markets are closed today Gold Friday

New York (April 14)  US financial markets are closed allday in observance of Good Friday. But why? Typically, markets adhere to the U.S. government’s holiday calendar. However, Good Friday isn’t one of those holidays. In fact, it’s among the few holidays that isn’t both a Wall Street and a federal holiday. Those include Columbus Day and Veterans Day, which are federal holidays but aren’t vacation days for Wall Street investors.

Apparently, there is no clear answer for Good Friday being a market holiday. UBS’s veteran market maven, Art Cashin, has made a relatively regular habit of debunking myths that have linked market crashes, particularly the 1987 stock-market plunge, to the Good Friday closing.

“That myth contends that the NYSE opened on a Good Friday and the terrible Black Friday crash occurred. Thus, chastened and shaken, the Governors vowed never to open on a Good Friday again. It never happened,” Cashin said in a Tuesday note to clients. He notes that the last time the New York Stock Exchange was open on Good Friday was 1907.

The more practical reason for the closing may be more obvious. The holiday usually falls across the observance of Passover, which began on April 10 and is observed through the evening of April 18, and Easter Sunday. That would likely lead to anemic trading volume, even if market participants were able to make wagers on the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.68% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.67%

In any event, here’s a guide to some of the closures:

The NYSE and Nasdaq as well as other equity and options platforms will be closed on Friday, April 14.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association has recommended that bond markets close early at 2 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, known as Holy Thursday, and remain closed on Good Friday.

Source: MarketWatch