The stock market was closed for a full trading halt on Good Friday, April 3, 2026, despite the day not being a federal holiday. Both the NYSE and Nasdaq suspended operations, while banks and mail services remained open. Traders made final adjustments on Thursday ahead of the closure, and a significant jobs report was released on Friday with no live market to react. Cryptocurrency markets, however, continued trading uninterrupted.
Good Friday 2026 saw a complete suspension of trading on both the NYSE and Nasdaq. Thursday, April 2 was the final active session before the markets closed, ending at 4 p.m. ET with no extended trading available on Friday. Pre-market and after-hours mechanisms were idle throughout the holiday.
The Labor Department released its March jobs report at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, a market-moving event with no live session to absorb it. Analysts across trading desks spent the weekend stress-testing scenarios for Monday’s open, anticipating a volatile start. Kyle Rodda, a senior financial market analyst at Capital.com, stated that “the markets could be extra choppy going into the Easter long weekend.”
While the stock market closed, banks opened and mail services operated normally. Fixed income markets saw bond desks advised to close by noon ET, and equity index futures were pulled entirely for the day. Cryptocurrency markets ignored the closure and traded straight through.
European markets, including the London Stock Exchange, Euronext, and Frankfurt/Xetra, were also closed for Good Friday and Easter Monday. The Nasdaq holiday schedule for 2026 includes 10 full-day closures, with Good Friday being a rare non-federal holiday on that list.
