Celebrating Presidents’ Day: Market Closures and Historical Stock Performance
By Presidents' Day, or Washington's Birthday, is a federal holiday in the United States that falls on the third Monday of February and is celebrated on February 20 this year. This holiday honors the 45 U.S. presidents and is formally referred to as Washington's Birthday in recognition of George Washington's birthdate on February 22.
On Presidents' Day, the stock and bond markets will be closed. This holiday is a bank holiday in the Federal Reserve system, so most banks will be closed, with the exception of TD Bank.[0] Most retail stores will be open, but double check with local businesses for their specific hours.[0] Government institutions such as the DMV, libraries, courthouses, and city hall, as well as federal and state courts will be closed.[0]
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq will both be closed on Monday.[1] At 4 p.m., the[2] The stock market will remain closed until 9:30 a.m. EST on February 17.[3] Eastern Standard Time on February[4] In addition to the usual closures, bond markets have some early closures throughout the year.[5] Bond markets close at 2 p.m.[5] ET, on the following days: Good Friday, April 7, 2023, Juneteenth, June 19, 2023, Labor Day, September 4, 2023, and Veterans Day, November 11, 2023.
Presidents' Day has historically been a poor one for the S&P 500, with a negative average return of 0.3%. Nonetheless, certain stocks stand out during the week of President’s Day.[6] Looking over the past 10 years, electricity stocks have performed the best, while banks tend to perform the worst.[6]
The Uniform Monday Holiday Act, passed in 1971, aimed to create more three-day weekends for the nation's workers and resulted in the holiday being moved to the third Monday in February.[7] On Monday, global shares inched up as a U.S. holiday tempered some of the recent volatility ahead of minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting and data on core inflation that could add to the risk of interest rates heading higher for longer.[8]
0. “President's Day 2023: Is the post office open? Are stores, banks?” USA TODAY, 19 Feb. 2023, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/19/presidents-day-closures-2023/11257805002/
1. “Presidents’ Day: What’s open, what’s closed on the federal holiday?” Opoyi, 20 Feb. 2023, https://opoyi.com/usa/presidents-day-whats-open-whats-closed-on-the-federal-holiday/
2. “When is the US stock market closed for a holiday in February?” The Financial Express, 18 Feb. 2023, https://www.financialexpress.com/investing-abroad/featured-stories/when-is-the-us-stock-market-closed-for-a-holiday-in-february/2985241/
3. “US stock market to remain closed today” The Financial Express, 20 Feb. 2023, https://www.financialexpress.com/investing-abroad/us-stock-market-to-remain-closed-today/2986952
4. “FYI: Costco Is Open Today” AOL, 20 Feb. 2023, https://www.aol.com/lifestyle/fyi-costco-open-today-130000065.html
5. “Stock market holidays 2023: The US markets are closed on these days” Yahoo! Voices, 17 Feb. 2023, https://www.yahoo.com/now/stock-market-holidays-2023-us-185133324.html
6. “Should You Buy Stocks During Holiday-Shortened Weeks?” Schaeffers Research, 15 Feb. 2023, https://www.schaeffersresearch.com/content/analysis/2023/02/15/buy-these-20-stocks-presidents-day-week
7. “U.S. Stock and Bond Markets Closed on Presidents' Day” Best Stocks, 20 Feb. 2023, https://beststocks.com/u-s-stock-and-bond-markets-closed-on/
8. “Global Shares Gain as Presidents Day Interrupts Interest-Rate Reality Check” Newsmax, 20 Feb. 2023, https://www.newsmax.com/finance/streettalk/global-markets/2023/02/20/id/1109321/
