Recently, someone asked me how to calculate the opening time of the U.S. stock market, and I realized that many people are really not clear about this. Simply put, the regular trading hours of the U.S. stock market are 9:30 to 16:00 U.S. Eastern Time, but the key is to know what time that corresponds to in China.

There’s a catch: the U.S. switches between daylight saving time and standard time. During daylight saving time (from March to November), the U.S. stock market opens at 21:30 Beijing time; during standard time, it becomes 22:30. If you want to buy the dip or chase market hotspots, you need to calculate the time in advance—otherwise it’s awkward if you miss it. In addition to regular trading, there are pre-market hours (4:00–9:30) and after-hours trading (16:00–20:00). Liquidity during these periods tends to be lower.

There are mainly three major U.S. exchanges: the New York Stock Exchange is the largest, Nasdaq is the second largest (mainly for tech stocks), and the American Stock Exchange ranks third, focusing on small- and mid-cap stocks. Although each exchange operates independently, their opening times are basically synchronized.

Also, remember U.S. market holidays. On Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays, the U.S. stock market will close or close early. I previously saw that the NYSE was considering extending electronic trading hours; if that’s implemented, there will be even more flexibility in the U.S. stock market’s opening times.

By the way, if you also follow other markets, I’ve put together a comparison table of the opening times of major global stock exchanges—such as the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange, and the Tokyo Stock Exchange—so you can match them to China time and plan your trading schedule. That way, you won’t have to look up the times every time.