Key Takeaways
- Major public holidays cause adjusted trading hours across most CFD instruments.
- This article lists the 2026 schedule for all major holiday-affected sessions, organised by instrument group, and what to expect for execution during reduced-liquidity windows.
Major public holidays cause adjusted trading hours across most CFD instruments. The exact impact depends on which underlying exchanges are closed and which liquidity providers have reduced staffing. This article sets out the full 2026 schedule by instrument group.
How holiday adjustments work
Our trading hours for any given instrument are derived from the operating hours of the underlying exchange (for index, equity, and commodity CFDs) and the operating hours of our liquidity providers (for FX and crypto CFDs). When an underlying exchange closes for a holiday, the corresponding CFD also stops trading; when a major financial centre closes for a holiday, the relevant FX pairs may have reduced liquidity even if quoted continuously.
All times below are in GMT. Convert to your local time as needed.
FX and metals
FX is quoted 24 hours from Sunday 22:00 GMT to Friday 22:00 GMT. The following dates have reduced liquidity (wider spreads possible, slippage more likely on market orders) due to bank holidays in the major centres:
- 1 January (Thursday) — New Year's Day: Global. FX quoting continues but spreads widen significantly. We recommend avoiding new positions in the first London hour.
- 3 April (Friday) — Good Friday: US, UK, EU bank holiday. Reduced liquidity all day; metals CFDs close early.
- 6 April (Monday) — Easter Monday: UK, EU bank holiday. London liquidity reduced.
- 25 May (Monday) — Memorial Day (US), Spring Bank Holiday (UK): US and UK closed. Trading thin until Asian open.
- 3 July (Friday) — US Independence Day (observed): US closed. Early closure on US instruments.
- 7 September (Monday) — US Labor Day: US closed. Reduced US session liquidity.
- 26 November (Thursday) — US Thanksgiving: US closed. US instruments early closure; FX thin.
- 27 November (Friday) — US Black Friday: US shortened session.
- 24 December (Thursday) — Christmas Eve: Most major centres operate shortened hours.
- 25 December (Friday) — Christmas Day: Global closure. FX market closed.
- 28 December (Monday) — Boxing Day (observed): UK closed. London liquidity absent.
- 31 December (Thursday) — New Year's Eve: Major centres operate shortened hours.
Equity index CFDs
Trading hours for each major index CFD follow the operating hours of the underlying exchange. On the holiday dates above, the corresponding national index closes for the day:
- S&P 500, NASDAQ-100, Dow Jones 30, Russell 2000 — closed on US holidays.
- FTSE 100 — closed on UK bank holidays.
- DAX, Euro Stoxx 50 — closed on German / EU holidays.
- Nikkei 225 — closed on Japanese national holidays.
- Hang Seng — closed on Hong Kong public holidays (lunar calendar; see separate Asia-Pacific schedule on platform).
- Australia 200 — closed on Australian national holidays.
The full per-instrument calendar is published in the MT4 contract specifications and updated quarterly.
Energy CFDs
WTI and Brent crude oil CFDs follow NYMEX and ICE Futures Europe holiday schedules respectively. Both close on US holidays; Brent additionally closes on UK bank holidays.
Crypto CFDs
Crypto CFDs trade 24/7 throughout the year, including all public holidays. Liquidity remains broadly comparable to normal trading days; spreads may widen modestly during global low-volume windows (24-26 December in particular).
What this means for active positions
- Positions held over a market closure remain open. Stop loss and take profit orders persist server-side and execute on the next available price when the market reopens.
- Gap risk over weekends and holidays is real. Where the price opens at a substantially different level from the close, stop losses execute at the gap-open price, not the original stop level. This is normal market behaviour, not a platform issue.
- Overnight financing (swap) is charged on every calendar day the position is held, including weekends and holidays. On the Wednesday immediately before a Friday holiday, a triple charge is applied to cover the closure window.
If you are unsure
The MT4 platform displays each instrument's trading hours in real time under Market Watch → right-click symbol → Specification. The "Trade" tab shows current trading status (open / closed / pre-close). When in doubt, this is the authoritative source for any given instrument at any given moment.
For questions on specific dates or instruments not listed above, contact our support team at support@topwealthtrading.com.
Holiday schedules are subject to change as exchanges and liquidity providers publish updates. Always check the in-platform contract specifications for the current authoritative hours for any specific instrument and date.
