Are Markets Open On Juneteenth This Year? Here's What's Open And What's Closed On June 19

The U.S. markets will be closed on Thursday, June 19, in observance of Juneteenth National Independence Day, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

What Happened: According to the guidance from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq will both suspend trading for the day, along with the U.S. bond market, which will also remain closed. Trading will resume as normal on Friday, June 20.

Juneteenth is the newest federal holiday in the calendar, having been designated only in 2021 by former President Joe Biden, 156 years after Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas on June 19, 1865.

The decision to make this a national holiday was undertaken following months of widespread protests against racial injustice and inequality in 2020.

While financial markets will be off on Thursday, not all sectors will stop functioning. Most federal government offices, bank branches, schools, and even the U.S. Postal Service will be shutting down, with many state and local government offices also observing the holiday.

Private companies, however, aren’t required by law to close for federal holidays, and retailers such as Walmart Inc. WMT, Target Corp. TGT, and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. WBA will continue to remain open during their normal working hours.

Major banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM and Bank of America Corp. BAC, among others, will be closed, while online banking and ATMs will continue to function.

Why It Matters: For years, Juneteenth celebrations were restricted only to Texas, but following the unrest that stemmed from the death of George Floyd in 2020, there were growing calls for making it a nationwide holiday.

Besides Juneteenth, the markets remain closed for eight other federal holidays, with the following occasions in the coming months,