Stock and bond markets in the U.S. will be closed Monday, January 17 in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, offering traders a rest after a volatile start to the year.
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, or Sifma, has recommended that bond markets close for the day, which may impact trading in the 10-year Treasury note.The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq are also closed for the federal holiday.
Meanwhile, in U.S. commodities markets, there will be no regular trading or settlements, including for Nymex crude oil and Comex-traded gold.
The holiday comes two weeks into a year that’s started on a down note for stocks, thanks to the ongoing omicron wave of coronavirus cases, a hawkish Federal Reserve, surging inflation, and uncertainty about valuations ahead of the next corporate earnings reporting season.
U.S. stocks are lower in the year to date: the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 1.2%, the S&P 500 has lost 2.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite is down 4.8% through the close on Friday. The 10-year note has surged about 15 points, meanwhile, as investors sell those bonds, anticipating higher interest rates ahead.
The omicron surge has prompted multiple changes to Monday’s celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Communities from Alabama to Massachusetts, after initially planning in-person events, have instead pivoted to online versions, in many cases for the second year in a row.
Even so, investors continue to reward exchange-traded funds geared toward the “re-opening trade” more than the “work-from-home” regime that dominated 2020. The U.S. Global Jets ETF was up 5.5% in the year to date through Friday, while the Direxion Work From Home ETF had lost 5.5% in the same period.
The Martin Luther King holiday is traditionally observed on the third Monday of January to mark King’s birthday, January 15, 1929.