New York, May 22, 2026, 05:51 EDT
U.S. stock markets will run on their regular hours Friday. The U.S. bond market closes early ahead of Memorial Day, trimming trading time for Treasuries and other debt before the three-day weekend.
Stocks had not started regular trading at this time. The NYSE’s normal hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern. For 2026, both the NYSE and Nasdaq say Memorial Day—Monday, May 25—is a full market holiday.
The split is important since stocks and bonds don’t always share holiday hours. SIFMA, the securities industry group, recommends that U.S. fixed-income markets close early at 2 p.m. Eastern on Friday, May 22. Markets are shut for Memorial Day on Monday. Fixed income here covers debt markets like Treasuries, corporates, and MBS.
Stock index futures gained early Friday, with Dow e-minis up 0.3%, S&P 500 e-minis up 0.31% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis up 0.5% at 4:55 a.m. Eastern. The move came as the 10-year Treasury yield fell 2.2 basis points to 4.56%; a basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. Nvidia traded up before the open. AMD and Broadcom also pushed higher. Naeem Aslam, chief investment officer at Zaye Capital Markets, said geopolitical risk was now “less immediately damaging” to sentiment, but still present. Reuters
Wall Street finished Thursday’s session higher, giving the market some support. The S&P 500 edged up 0.2% to 7,445.72, while the Dow rose 0.6% to 50,285.66, and the Nasdaq ticked up 0.1% to 26,293.10. Through Thursday, the S&P was up 0.5% for the week and the Dow gained 1.5%.
AI spending and energy-driven inflation risk are still the main drivers in the market. UBS Global Wealth Management bumped its 2026 year-end S&P 500 target to 7,900, up from 7,500, pointing to steady consumer spending and strong demand for data center infrastructure.
AI still props up the market. Carol Schleif, chief market strategist at BMO Private Wealth, said after Wednesday’s rally, “technology is driving the bus.” That sums up investors’ move between rate fears and chasing chip and software stocks. Reuters
Product trading hours can trip up investors. CME Group’s BrokerTec U.S. repo market lists an early close on Friday ahead of Memorial Day, then stays shut Monday. CME’s Chicago trading floor is set to close early Friday and keep closed Monday too. Repo, or repurchase agreement, is a type of short-term secured borrowing common among banks and dealers.
But with trading thin before the holidays, any move in oil, rates or geopolitics could get exaggerated. Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said “nobody really knows” what’s next for U.S.-Iran talks. George Saravelos, Deutsche Bank’s global head of forex research, said energy prices need to drop soon or inflation could rise. Reuters
Stocks are set for normal Friday trading, but the bond market will be closed. Both markets will be shut Monday. The open question for traders is what they come back to Tuesday — whether oil and yields have settled down, or if another batch of catch-up trades is waiting.
