I’ve just noticed that many of you are getting confused about stock trading hours—especially when you want to trade in both the Vietnamese market and the US market. In this article, I’ll share some practical experiences from many years working in this field.

First of all, you must clearly understand the time frames. The stock market is not open 24/7 like many people think. Official stock exchanges are only open during regular business hours from Monday to Friday, and they are completely closed on weekends. In addition, each market has its own stock trading hours: some have a lunch break, while others trade continuously.

For the Vietnam market, all three exchanges HOSE, HNX, and Upcom open at around 9:00 a.m., close at 14:45, and have a lunch break from 11:30 to 13:00. In practice, this timing is quite reasonable for arranging your daily schedule. But what’s important is that each exchange has different rules regarding order types and matching methods. HOSE has a periodic matching session that opens from 9:00–9:15, while HNX does not; HNX performs continuous matching right from the start of the session.

If you want to trade US stocks, it’s different. NYSE and Nasdaq open at 9:30 a.m. US time, which is 21:30 Vietnam time. This means you have to stay up late if you want to trade during the main session. Nasdaq’s early session starts at 4:00 a.m. US time (16:00 Vietnam time), and the after-hours session runs until 20:00 US time (8:00 a.m. the next day Vietnam time). If you’re the type who likes short-term scalping, pay attention to the first 15–60 minutes after the market opens, because this is when the market is most volatile and the trends are the clearest.

It’s important to note that Vietnamese citizens are not allowed to directly own US stocks under the law. Instead, most Vietnamese investors use derivative products such as CFD contracts to participate in the market. This approach helps you profit from price fluctuations without needing to hold the actual assets, and you also don’t have to pay personal income tax.

As for domestic securities firms, VNDirect operates from 8:00 a.m. to 11:45, then takes a lunch break until 12:45 and continues until 17:00. VPS operates from 7:30 to 17:00, but there are different time slots depending on the type of transaction. SSI is from 8:00 to 12:00, takes a lunch break, and then continues from 13:00 to 17:00. Each exchange has its own advantages, so you need to choose what fits your trading needs.

One very important thing that many people overlook is the holiday schedule. The Vietnam market closes for New Year’s Day, Lunar New Year, Hung Kings’ Commemoration Day, April 30, May 1, and September 2. The US market closes for days such as New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Washington’s Birthday, Good Friday, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Juneteenth. If you trade on these days, you will definitely face difficulties.

In reality, understanding stock trading hours will help you build much more effective trading strategies. If you’re a new investor, I recommend focusing on peak trading times—around 9:00–10:00 a.m. and 13:30–14:30 in Vietnam. You don’t need to trade all day; just 2–3 hours is enough. At the same time, keep track of the economic calendar, macro news, and analyses from experts to make smarter investment decisions. The stock market currently has many opportunities, especially as indices like S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq keep breaking new highs, and the Vietnam market is also seeing trading sessions with liquidity reaching billions of dollars—something that was rare before.