Veterans Day—intended to pay homage to U.S. military servicewomen and men—kicks off on Thursday and as a result, bond markets will be closed on the federal holiday.
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, known as Sifma, has traditionally recommended bond-market closures based on the New York Federal Reserve’s holiday schedule.
As for money transfers, private banks can choose to close, remain open or shorten their hours. The Federal Reserve Bank and all of its offices and branches are closed on all federal holidays, including Veterans Day. No mail will be delivered on the day.
However, trading on the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
S&P 500 index
SPX,
and the Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
will operate normally, opening at 9:30 a.m. ET and closing at 4 p.m.
Veterans Day is one of the unusual trading days in the U.S. where bond markets are closed while equity bourses remain open.
Veterans Day used to be celebrated by stock and bond markets alike, starting as far back as 1938 (some put the date to 1921). Back in 1938, Veterans Day was declared a legal holiday to be celebrated on Nov. 11, known as Armistice Day. The stock market used to observe Veterans Day with a brief two-minute shutdown from 1954 to 2006, but that ended in 2007.
Over the years, the date and name of the holiday has shifted.
The timing of Armistice Day fluctuated: a celebration of World War I veterans and a dedication “to the cause of world peace,” according to military.com’s website.
In 1954, the term “Armistice” was replaced with “Veterans” by the U.S. Congress, in recognition of veterans of World War II and the Korean War. Nov. 11 was maintained as the designated day. Memorial Day, also pays tribute to the U.S. armed forces, but honors those who died while serving in the military.
In 1968, under the so-called Uniforms Holiday Act, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, Veterans Day was moved to the last Monday of October. Another change shortly followed. In 1975, President Gerald Ford moved the holiday back to Nov. 11 starting in 1978, which stands today. That means the day on which the holiday is observed shifts, sometimes occurring outside of the regular workweek.
So, on Thursday, while trading in the 10-year Treasury note
TMUBMUSD10Y,
and the 30-year long bond
TMUBMUSD30Y,
won’t occur, stocks, currencies and other markets, like those for gold
GCZ21,
and crude-oil
CL.1,
will be actively traded.
Other equity benchmarks elsewhere in the world, including the Stoxx Europe 600
SXXP,
and U.K.’s FTSE 100
UKX,
will operate normally.
This post was originally published on Market Watch
