Since the year-end market holidays 2021 are rapidly approaching, you’ll likely want to make sure you’re on top of your trades. Seasonality greatly impacts how financial markets perform. Prior to the holidays, there is a seasonal market trend called pre-holiday effect, which is when the markets usually experience higher volatility than on regular trading days.
To help you prepare and refine your trading strategies during this time, here’s what you can expect this upcoming holiday season.
Stock market
During the holidays, stock prices fluctuate due to a number of contributing factors, including:
- the number of active traders
- the end of a financial quarter for companies (when they rebalance their portfolios based on which investments performed well or poorly)
- investors selling their unprofitable shares
With the expected rises and dips in price movements this time of the year, most traders rely on technical and fundamental analysis to study the seasonal stock trend of a particular asset to strategise better.
Stock exchanges holiday calendar
Stock markets are only open for trading on normal business days — Monday to Friday. Listed below are the holiday schedules of the major stock exchanges around the world.
| Foreign stock exchanges | Regular trading hours | Holiday status |
|
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) |
2:30 PM to 9:00 PM GMT (9:30 AM to 4:00 PM Eastern Time) |
Closed (December 24) |
| Nasdaq |
2:30 PM to 9:00 PM GMT (9:30 AM to 4:00 PM Eastern Time) |
Closed (December 24) |
| Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) |
12:00 AM to 6:00 AM GMT (9:00 AM to 3:00 PM Japan Standard Time) |
Closed (December 24) |
| London Stock Exchange (LSE) | 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM GMT |
Open (December 24, from 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM only) Closed (December 27 and 28) Open (December 31, from 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM only) |
| Hong Kong Stock Exchange |
1:30 AM to 8:00 AM GMT (9:30 AM to 4:00 PM Hong Kong Standard Time) |
Open (December 24 and 31, from 1:30 AM to 3:30 AM only) Closed (December 27) |
| Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) | 1:30 AM to 7:00 AM GMT (9:30 AM to 3:00 PM Shanghai Standard Time) | Open (normal trading hours) |
*Stocks and stock indices can be traded on Deriv MT5 (with CFDs) and DTrader, DBot, and SmartTrader (with options).
Forex market
The forex market is the world’s largest financial market, with over 6 trillion US dollars in daily trading volume. It’s dominated by financial companies, hedge funds (also known as offshore investment funds), and banks.
These key market players are absent during the holiday season, resulting in lower liquidity. Their absence also leads to heightened volatility with higher chances of false breakouts, which some traders find unrewarding as there’s less potential for gains.
In a decentralised market like forex, there is no way of knowing how prices will move, so trading under such unpredictable market conditions can be challenging. Most traders rely on both technical and fundamental analysis in studying its price movements.
When is the forex market closed?
The normal trading hours for the forex market are 10:00 PM to 9:00 PM GMT (5:00 PM to 4:00 PM Eastern Time), from Sunday to Friday. It’s only officially closed on Christmas Day (December 25th) and New Year’s Day (January 1st).
*Forex can be traded on Deriv MT5 and Deriv X (with CFDs) for 24 hours (with a 5-minute break at 22:00 GMT), DTrader (with options and multipliers), and DBot and SmartTrader (with options).
Commodities
The holiday season generates a high demand for commodities — from natural resources to precious metals — resulting in bullish markets that most traders take advantage of. This rise in demand strengthens their prices, paving the way for more potential positive returns.
The commodities market’s trading hours are 3:00 PM to 5:30 AM GMT (9:00 AM to 11:30 PM Central Standard Time), from Monday to Friday (depending on the asset). This market is only officially closed on Christmas Day (December 25th).
*Commodities can be traded on Deriv MT5 and Deriv X (with CFDs; trading hours vary depending on the asset), and DTrader, DBot, and SmartTrader (with options).
Other markets
Cryptocurrencies and synthetic indices are the markets that never sleep. On Deriv, these markets are available to trade 24/7, even throughout the holiday seasons and on public holidays.
*Cryptocurrencies and synthetic indices can be traded on all Deriv platforms — Deriv MT5 and Deriv X (with CFDs), DTrader (with options and multipliers), as well as and DBot and SmartTrader (with options but for synthetic indices only).
Important: Deriv remains operational throughout the holiday season. The schedules mentioned are for guidance only and are subject to change.
Deriv wishes you a festive season filled with love and warmth!
Disclaimer:
Options trading, DBot, Deriv X, and SmartTrader are not available to clients residing within the European Union or the United Kingdom.
CFD trading on cryptocurrencies and synthetic indices is not available to clients residing within the United Kingdom.