The NASDAQ opens at 9:30 AM New York time, i.e. 2:30 PM London time for most of the year. The close is at 4:00 PM ET, i.e. 9:00 PM London time. The window only shifts to 1:30–8:00 PM during two short transition periods, in March and late October–early November, because Europe and the United States do not change their clocks on the same weekend.

It is a 100% electronic exchange that concentrates most of the US tech giants: Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta, Alphabet or SpaceX.

This page covers everything you need to trade from Europe: exact hours in London time, the 2026 holiday calendar, pre-market and after-hours sessions, and why earnings releases often move prices after the close.

NASDAQ trading hours in detail

The NASDAQ follows a 6.5-hour regular trading window: 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM, New York time (ET). Five days a week, Monday to Friday. It is closed on Saturdays, Sundays and the US holidays listed below.

The time zone is America/New_York, i.e. UTC−5 in winter (EST) and UTC−4 in summer (EDT). On the European side:

• Most of the year (5-hour gap): open at 2:30 PM, close at 9:00 PM London time.
• During the transition windows (a few weeks in March and late October–early November, 4-hour gap): open at 1:30 PM, close at 8:00 PM London time.

NASDAQ vs NYSE: same hours, but two very different platforms. NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) and NASDAQ share exactly the same market hours (9:30 AM–4:00 PM ET). But the NASDAQ has no physical floor: since its creation in 1971, it has been a fully electronic platform. The NYSE, by contrast, keeps a floor on Wall Street run by Designated Market Makers (DMM) and floor brokers.

For the individual trader, that difference changes little in practice. The NASDAQ established itself as the home of tech stocks mainly because of its historically looser listing requirements and its tilt toward growth companies. Its digital nature has only reinforced that identity.

The NASDAQ Composite groups more than 3,000 stocks listed on the platform. The benchmark index for traders is the NASDAQ 100 (NDX), which concentrates the 100 largest non-financial caps. It is the one tracked by the NQ futures and ETFs like the QQQ. The two should not be confused: when the media talk about “a NASDAQ drop”, they usually mean the Composite, but the NASDAQ 100 is the instrument most traders actually work with.

Pre-market and after-hours

The official NASDAQ session (9:30 AM–4:00 PM ET) is not the only active window. Two extended sessions bracket it, and they matter especially for anyone following Big Tech.

• Pre-market: 4:00 to 9:30 AM ET (9:00 AM to 2:30 PM London time). Volume is thin early in the session but builds in the final hour before the open. Results published before the open (before market open, BMO) often move prices significantly in this window. Orders execute on the NASDAQ electronic session and other electronic platforms, with generally wider spreads than in the regular session.

• After-hours: 4:00 to 8:00 PM ET (9:00 PM to 1:00 AM London time). This is where much of the NASDAQ action plays out for European traders. Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Nvidia, Microsoft almost always publish their quarterly results after the close (after market close, AMC). An Nvidia reporting revenue at 4:05 PM ET can move 5 to 15% during after-hours.

For a Europe-based trader, the NASDAQ after-hours falls between 9:00 PM and 1:00 AM London time. That is a real constraint. Most European traders place their orders before the close, or follow the results the next morning.

Important: order-execution rules differ outside regular hours. Check whether your broker offers limit orders, generally accepted in pre-market/after-hours, and whether the access hours cover the full window.

NASDAQ holidays in 2026

The NASDAQ follows the official US holiday calendar. In 2026, ten full closures are scheduled, plus two half-sessions at year-end.

Date	Holiday	Session
Thursday, January 1, 2026	New Year’s Day	Closed
Monday, January 19, 2026	Martin Luther King Jr. Day	Closed
Monday, February 16, 2026	Presidents’ Day	Closed
Friday, April 3, 2026	Good Friday	Closed
Monday, May 25, 2026	Memorial Day	Closed
Friday, June 19, 2026	Juneteenth	Closed
Friday, July 3, 2026	Independence Day (observed)	Closed
Monday, September 7, 2026	Labor Day	Closed
Thursday, November 26, 2026	Thanksgiving	Closed
Friday, November 27, 2026	Day after Thanksgiving	Half-session — close 1:00 PM ET
Thursday, December 24, 2026	Christmas Eve	Half-session — close 1:00 PM ET
Friday, December 25, 2026	Christmas Day	Closed

Note: the NASDAQ also runs two half-sessions in 2026, with an early close at 1:00 PM ET (6:00 PM London time), on Friday, November 27 (the day after Thanksgiving) and Thursday, December 24 (Christmas Eve).

The NASDAQ does not close for Columbus Day or Veterans Day, unlike some bond markets. From Europe, Memorial Day and Labor Day are the holidays that most often catch out beginners: the market is closed even though it is a working Monday in Europe.

Best times to trade the NASDAQ from Europe

Two windows concentrate the most favourable conditions for most strategies.

• 2:30 to 3:30 PM: the opening rush. In the first trades of the regular session, volume explodes, the overnight gaps fill and the first reactions to US economic releases (NFP, ISM, CPI) appear. For a Europe-based trader, it is the most active and most predictable moment: macro releases are often scheduled for 1:30 PM or 3:00 PM London time, and institutional flows are at their peak.

• 3:30 to 4:30 PM: the mid window. Volatility eases slightly after the initial rush. It is often the most comfortable window for trend-following strategies on the NASDAQ 100.

• Earnings days. Apple, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta, Alphabet almost always report after 4:00 PM ET (9:00 PM London time). On those days, after-hours volume and volatility can exceed those of the regular session. Worth watching even if you do not trade after-hours, because the next day’s opening gaps can be significant.

To follow the NASDAQ in real time from Europe, ProRealTime offers NASDAQ quotes with the NQ futures, Level 2 data and ProBacktest to test a strategy over ten years of data. Try ProRealTime for free.

The NASDAQ seen from Europe

Trading the NASDAQ from London, Paris or Frankfurt means working on a market that opens in mid-afternoon and closes in the evening. This setup has upsides and downsides.

Hours in London time:

Session	New York time	London winter (GMT)	London summer (BST)
Pre-market	4:00 – 9:30 AM	9:00 AM – 2:30 PM	9:00 AM – 2:30 PM
Regular session	9:30 AM – 4:00 PM	2:30 – 9:00 PM	2:30 – 9:00 PM
After-hours	4:00 – 8:00 PM	9:00 PM – 1:00 AM	9:00 PM – 1:00 AM

• Upside: the regular session overlaps the end of the European day. A trader following both the European exchanges (XETRA, Euronext Paris) and the NASDAQ can manage both within a single day.

• Downside: the last session hours (5:00 to 9:00 PM London) fall in the evening, outside usual office hours. After-hours, where the earnings releases cluster, falls in the middle of the night.

A practical rule for European traders: watch the US pre-market from 2:00 PM (about 30 minutes before the official open). The NQ futures already give a read on the likely direction of the session. Pre-market volume builds as 2:30 PM approaches.

The NASDAQ versus the major world exchanges

The NASDAQ does not trade in the same time zone as the European exchanges. The overlap between the European session and the Wall Street open (2:30–4:30 PM London time) is the most active window of the day for a Europe-based trader: volume multiplies.

Exchange	Open	Close	Main index	Time zone
🇺🇸 NASDAQ (New York)	9:30	16:00	NASDAQ-100	ET (UTC−5/−4)
🇺🇸 NYSE (New York)	9:30	16:00	Dow Jones / S&P 500	ET (UTC−5/−4)
🇬🇧 LSE (London)	8:00	16:30	FTSE 100	GMT (UTC+0/+1)
🇫🇷 Euronext Paris	9:00	17:30	CAC 40	CET (UTC+1/+2)
🇩🇪 XETRA (Frankfurt)	9:00	17:30	DAX 40	CET (UTC+1/+2)
🇯🇵 Tokyo (TSE)	9:00	15:30	Nikkei 225	JST (UTC+9)

See all 18 world exchanges →

Other US exchange

FAQ

Is the NASDAQ open today?

Monday to Friday, except on the holidays listed above. The widget at the top of this page shows the live status with automatic conversion to your local time.

What time does the NASDAQ open in London?

2:30 PM London time for most of the year. The window shifts to 1:30 PM only during the short clock-change periods, in March and late October–early November.

What is the difference between the NASDAQ and the NYSE?

Both are US exchanges with the same trading hours (9:30 AM–4:00 PM ET). But the NYSE has a physical floor on Wall Street, whereas the NASDAQ has been 100% electronic since 1971. The NYSE hosts more financial and industrial groups (JPMorgan, Berkshire Hathaway, Coca-Cola); the NASDAQ concentrates technology companies (Apple, Nvidia, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft, Tesla).

Why do NASDAQ prices move after the close?

Because nearly all the Big Tech (Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Nvidia, Microsoft) report their quarterly results after 4:00 PM ET, in after-hours. These announcements often move prices several percent before the next official open. After-hours trades on electronic platforms with lower volume and wider spreads.

What is the difference between the NASDAQ Composite and the NASDAQ 100?

The NASDAQ Composite groups all the stocks listed on the NASDAQ platform, i.e. more than 3,000 companies. The NASDAQ 100 (NDX) selects the 100 largest non-financial caps.

Do the NASDAQ and the NYSE have the same holidays?

Yes, exactly the same. Both exchanges follow the official US holiday calendar and close on the same dates.

Can you trade the NASDAQ outside official hours from Europe?

Yes, via the pre-market (9:00 AM–2:30 PM) and after-hours (9:00 PM–1:00 AM) sessions, provided your broker offers them. Liquidity is lower and spreads wider outside the regular session. The NASDAQ 100 futures (CME) trade almost around the clock, from Sunday evening to Friday evening, which gives a read on direction even outside the sessions.