Recently, while organizing information about US stock market opening hours, I found that many people still feel a bit unclear about it. In fact, today’s US stock market opening hours are related to the seasons. Since it’s already the end of May, daylight saving time is in effect. From Taiwan’s perspective, regular trading hours are 9:30 PM to 4:00 AM. If you want to catch pre-market trading, you need to start watching from 4:30 PM. During standard time, the clocks move back by one hour, becoming 10:30 PM to 5:00 AM. So every year in November and March, you should pay special attention to the time difference adjustment.

The US stock market mainly trades on three places: the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and the American Stock Exchange. Although their names differ, the opening and closing times are basically the same, with only a small difference. The trading unit is 1 share, priced in US dollars. Commissions depend on the way you trade; manual trading is about 1%, while placing orders electronically is a bit cheaper.

Another important thing is market holidays. In 2026, there will be many holidays to watch out for. For example, New Year’s Day in January, Independence Day in July, Thanksgiving in November, and Christmas in December will all be market holidays. Some holidays even close early by three hours. If you plan to trade US stocks regularly, it’s best to write down these dates so you don’t find out the market is closed only after you place an order.

Actually, as long as you understand the pattern of US stock market opening hours today and coordinate it with Taiwan’s time difference, you can seize trading opportunities. There are also opportunities to trade pre-market and after-hours, but liquidity isn’t as good, so for beginners it’s usually safer to operate during regular trading hours.