Columbus Day: Are the markets open?
Columbus Day celebrates the landing of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492. Columbus Day is a federal holiday, but, unlike most federal holidays the U.S. financial and stock markets are open for business. The exception is bond trading, which pauses for the day.
With Monday a federal holiday, government offices will be closed, therefore, don’t expect any mail delivery from United States Postal Service, but FedEx and UPS will be making deliveries.
Columbus Day has been officially celebrated since 1937 after President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared it a Federal Holiday. Of note, in Hawaii the second Monday in October is known as Discoverers’ Day, and it is not a state holiday.
Throughout the years, Columbus Day has generated controversy and alternatives to the holiday have been proposed.