To trade US stocks, it really helps to check the time. Especially if you’re trading from Korea, you need to know exactly when US regular market hours are in your local time so you can plan properly. The US stock market is generally open from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM Eastern Time, which converts to 11:30 PM to 6:00 AM in Korea. During the daylight saving time period, it moves forward by 1 hour, so it becomes 10:30 AM to 5:00 AM, and you also need to keep that in mind.

All three exchanges—New York, NASDAQ, and the American Stock Exchange—follow the same US regular market hours, so you don’t need to check each exchange separately. However, it’s good to know that, in addition to the regular market, there are also pre-market hours (4:00 AM to 9:30 AM Eastern Time) and after-hours (4:00 PM to 8:00 PM). In Korean time, the pre-market runs from 6:00 PM to 11:30 PM, and the after-hours runs from 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM the next day.

The thing to be careful about when trading is that the US stock market has no price limit bands. Unlike Korea, there are no upper or lower limits such as daily limit-up and limit-down, so you need to be prepared for sharp fluctuations. Settlement is completed 2 business days after the trade, and all trades are conducted in US dollars.

It’s also a good idea to check US market holidays in advance for 2026. The market will be closed on New Year’s Day (January 1), Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 19), President’s Day (February 16), Good Friday (April 3), Memorial Day (May 25), Juneteenth (June 19), Independence Day (July 3), Labor Day (September 7), Thanksgiving Day (November 26), and Christmas (December 25). In addition, on July 2, November 27, and December 24, the regular market closes early, and in Korea time it closes at 2:00 AM the next day.

Personally, I think it’s really important to set up your trading plan after accurately figuring out the US regular market hours. Since after-hours trading is available, if you get confused about the time difference, you could miss opportunities or suffer unexpected losses. Since information can always change, it’s a good habit to double-check the times before you trade.