Bonds and commodities are also set for early closes
Traders are trying to shake off a tryptophan hangover following Thanksgiving on Thursday, when U.S. markets were closed.
However, the unlucky crew of traders, strategists and other market participants saddled with closing out this holiday-abbreviated week do have one reason to remain upbeat: an early Friday close.
The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq will close at 1 p.m. Eastern time.
Overall, trading activity on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Friday afterward is usually a fraction of what it is during normal, non-holiday trading periods. Here’s a look at the average trading volumes since 2010 on the day before and after Turkey day (as well as July 4 and Christmas Eve), per Dow Jones Market Data:
For bond traders, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association recommend a 2 p.m. close on Friday, one hour earlier than usual.
Meanwhile, commodity markets also will see an abbreviated session with those for metals, including gold GCZ8, -0.37% set to settle at 12:30 p.m. ET, while futures for crude-oil CLF9, -7.76% are slated to wrap up at 1:30 p.m. Both of those settlements are about an hour earlier than usual for the commodities.
After one of the weaker starts to a Thanksgiving week in recent years, with the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.66% Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.73% and Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.48% all set to register weekly declines of more than 3%, according to FactSet data.
So, if the market doesn’t cooperate by finishing on a high note, at least investors can get an early start to shopping for the holidays to come.