Major U.S. exchanges close for the holiday; most European markets also closed Easter Monday
U.S. financial markets will be closed in observance of Good Friday, which falls on April 14.
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....MORE
