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US market hours during the daylight saving gap

Twice a year, for one to three weeks, the US and Europe are on different clocks. In those weeks the US market opens at 1:30 p.m. in London instead of 2:30, and 2:30 p.m. in Paris instead of 3:30. Here are the weeks, and what moves with them.

Beginner guide · 6-minute read · Updated 2026-11-01

The short answer

The US stock market always trades 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. New York time. But the US and Europe change their clocks on different Sundays. For a few weeks each spring and one week each autumn, the gap between New York and Europe shrinks by an hour.

In those weeks, everything in New York happens one hour earlier for anyone in the UK or Europe:

• London: the open is 1:30 p.m., not 2:30. The close is 8:00 p.m., not 9:00.
• Paris, Berlin, Madrid: the open is 2:30 p.m., not 3:30.

Nothing about the US trading day changed. Only the clocks did.

When the gap weeks are

The rules are fixed:

• The US moves clocks forward on the second Sunday of March and back on the first Sunday of November.
• The UK and the EU move forward on the last Sunday of March and back on the last Sunday of October.

So in spring the US changes two or three weeks early. In autumn Europe changes one week early. Here are the trading days caught in between, worked out from those rules:

One wrinkle: Friday, March 26, 2027 is Good Friday, a US market holiday. So that spring gap has nine trading days, not ten. For every holiday and big report that year, see the full 2027 economic calendar.

What the US session looks like from Europe

It isn't only the open. Every New York time slides with it:

• US economic reports at 8:30 a.m. New York time land at 12:30 p.m. in London during the gap, not 1:30.
• Fed decisions at 2:00 p.m. New York time land at 6:00 p.m. in London, not 7:00.
• US option expiry and order cut-offs are set in New York time, so they move an hour earlier for you too.

And the other way: Europe from New York

If you trade in North America and watch Europe, it flips. During the gap weeks European markets open an hour later on your clock. A 9:00 a.m. start in Paris is 3:00 a.m. in New York most of the year, and 4:00 a.m. in the gap weeks.

The stretch of the day when both London and New York are open also gets an hour longer. Forex traders feel this, because that overlap is often the busiest part of the currency day. See the London session.

Who isn't affected

If your country never changes its clocks, there's no gap week for you. India, Japan, Singapore, the UAE and most of Africa stay put all year. For you, the US session just moves an hour earlier in March and an hour later in November, on the US dates.

Most of Canada changes on the same dates as the US, so for most Canadians nothing shifts against New York. Saskatchewan and Yukon don't change their clocks at all. For your own zone's hours, see stock market hours by time zone. For ten world cities through the year, see US market hours in your time zone.

A worked example: the alarm set an hour late

This is a worked example (hypothetical, made-up company and round numbers).

Léa lives in Paris. She holds 100 shares of a US company, Cobalt Freight. Bad news came out overnight, and she plans to sell right at the open. She sets her alarm for 3:30 p.m. Paris time, as she always does.

It's the second week of the spring gap. The market opened at 2:30 p.m. her time. By the time she logs in, the stock has slid for an hour.

She lost $300 more than she planned. Not because she read the news wrong. Because her clock was wrong.

The fix is simple. Set alarms and reminders in New York time, not your own. Your phone's world clock does the conversion for you. Or place your order before the open, so it doesn't need you awake at the right minute. The market hours clock reads your device's time zone and shows what's open right now, gap weeks included.

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