Recently, while organizing the US stock trading schedule, I realized that my understanding of time zones had been a bit confused. The question of what time US stocks close seems simple, but because the US switches between daylight saving time and standard time, investors in Taiwan really need to pay special attention.

Right now, in standard time, regular US stock trading hours are 9:30 to 16:00 Eastern Time, which corresponds to 10:30 PM to 5:00 AM the next day in Taiwan time. If you’re used to watching the market during working hours, you may have to wait until the evening for a chance. Pre-market trading starts at 3:30 PM Taiwan time—some people enter earlier—while after-hours trading runs until 9:00 AM the next day.

The most troublesome part is when daylight saving time starts and the clock moves forward by one hour. I looked at the 2026 market holidays, and just the statutory holidays alone number more than ten—such as New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and the days around Christmas—when the market is closed. Some holidays also have an early close three hours earlier. On Thanksgiving Day, for example, the market closes at 3:00 PM, so you need to pay special attention.

US stocks mainly trade on the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and the American Securities Exchange. Even though their opening hours are the same, the stock types traded at each exchange are not quite the same. NASDAQ has more technology stocks, the New York Stock Exchange is more traditional, and the American Securities Exchange focuses on small- and mid-cap stocks. If you want to trade US stocks from Taiwan, you must first figure out what time US stocks close and when the market is closed, so you won’t miss trading opportunities or be startled by holiday market behavior. How do you schedule your trading hours?