A new year is approaching.
This will result in a revised trading time schedule that professional investors will have to adhere to from the Christmas period until 2025.
Individual investors may also want to keep an eye on when the stock market is open and closed. Trading hours naturally affect the positions held by portfolio managers in retail funds, pension funds and mutual funds. Additionally, for those who actively trade stocks and shares through apps or brokers, timing may impose restrictions that may impact when trades are processed and settled*.
As you might expect, the London Stock Exchange will be closed all day on Christmas Day and Boxing Day 2024, and will briefly reopen for half a day on New Year’s Eve. It will then close on New Year’s Day and fully reopen on Thursday, January 2nd for 2025.
When will the London Stock Exchange open in 2025?
In 2025, the London Stock Exchange will be closed for 10 days, with the trading suspension divided into nine full days and two half days. Many of these days are bank holidays, and exchanges observe this day in parallel with other financial institutions.
The London Stock Exchange is closed on weekends. Regular weekday trading takes place from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
A complete list of trading hours can be found on the LSE website. One thing to note is that currency exchange follows UK bank holidays, whereas Scottish and Northern Ireland holidays are different. For example, the LSE will be open on January 2nd, which is a Scottish public holiday.
Another big caveat is that bond and currency markets have different trading hours.
You can trade currencies almost 24 hours a day. However, this is technically possible with stocks. This is possible by rotating the European market, US market, and Asian market on a daily basis. However, it’s probably not recommended as you won’t get much sleep.
It’s also worth checking the investment platform’s trading hours and whether they offer support over the phone or online chat.
The author owns no shares in any securities mentioned in this article. Learn about Morningstar’s editorial policy.
