What is open
What is open on Christmas Eve 2026?
Independent site, not the Postal Service, a bank or an exchange. Local hours can differ: check your own branch.
The checker opens on December 24, 2026. Move to December 24, 2027 to see the very different picture of next year.
Stock market (NYSE, Nasdaq), Thursday, December 24, 2026
Open, closes early
early close at 1:00 p.m. ET
| Post offices (retail counters)normal day | Open |
| Mail deliveryRegular delivery | Yes |
| Blue collection boxesNormal collection times | Collected |
| Banks (Federal Reserve calendar)business day | Open |
| Federal officesregular workday | Open |
Christmas Eve is not a federal holiday. On Thursday, December 24, 2026, federal offices, banks and post offices therefore open as on any Thursday, and the stock market trades but closes early, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time, as it does every year when December 24 is a trading day. Some branches and post offices shorten their hours by local decision, which is common but not set by any national rule. The exception comes from the President, who can close federal agencies by executive order: Executive Order 14371 gave federal employees December 24 and December 26, 2025 off, and earlier presidents did the same in several years. No order covers 2026 at the time of writing. In 2027 the picture changes completely because Christmas falls on a Saturday: federal offices and the stock market close on Friday, December 24, 2027 for the observed holiday, while banks stay open under the Federal Reserve rule and post offices keep normal hours, closing instead on Saturday.
Weekends left before Christmas
Full weekends before Christmas
8
| Christmas Day | Friday, December 25, 2026 |
| Days to go | 58 |
| Saturdays and Sundays | 16 |
| Business days | 39 |
Dates computed and checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
December 24 in 2026, 2027 and 2028
| 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekday | Thursday | Friday | Sunday |
| Stock market | closes 1:00 p.m. | closed (Christmas observed) | closed (Sunday) |
| Banks (Federal Reserve) | open | open | closed (Sunday) |
| Federal offices | open | closed (Christmas observed) | closed (Sunday) |
| Post offices | open | open | mostly closed (Sunday) |
Each of the three years shows a different case. In 2026 the only national change is the early close of the market. In 2027 the observed federal holiday lands on Christmas Eve, so it is the day off for federal workers and traders, but not for banks or postal workers. In 2028 Christmas Eve is a Sunday, and Christmas on Monday closes everything the next day.
The early close of the stock market
The NYSE calendar lists Christmas Eve as an early close at 1:00 p.m. when it falls on a trading day and is not itself a holiday. The same applies to Nasdaq. Volume is usually low and many desks are thinly staffed. Bond markets follow their own recommended early close, typically at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time. The checker above shows the market status for any date, and the stock market holidays page lists every early close through 2028.
Federal offices and executive orders
Federal employees work on Christmas Eve unless it is the observed holiday or an executive order closes agencies. Such orders have been signed in a number of recent years, usually a few weeks before, and sometimes cover the day after Christmas as well; the most recent, Executive Order 14371, closed agencies on December 24 and 26, 2025. Essential services keep operating under those orders, and the Office of Personnel Management publishes guidance when one is signed. This site adds such a day to its calendar on the day the order is published and does not guess in advance.
Christmas Eve 2026
57 days
| Date | Thursday, December 24, 2026 |
| Weeks | 8 weeks, 1 day |
| Weekends before it | 8 |
| Business days (federal holidays off) | 38 |
| Christmas Eve 2026 | Thursday, December 24, 2026 |
| Christmas Eve 2027 | Friday, December 24, 2027 |
| Christmas Eve 2028 | Sunday, December 24, 2028 |
Post offices and last mailing dates
Post offices open on Christmas Eve, often with crowds, and some close early locally. Mail is delivered and collected as usual. For a card or parcel to reach someone before Christmas Day, the recommended dates have already passed by then: the Postal Service list for 2026 gives Saturday, December 19, 2026 as the last day for Priority Mail Express within the contiguous states. Christmas Day itself is a widely observed postal holiday, with no delivery and no collection. In 2027 the post office closes on Saturday, December 25, not on Friday.
Shops, restaurants and other services
Store, restaurant and pharmacy hours on Christmas Eve are set by each business and often change from year to year, so this site does not list them. Public transit systems usually run a modified schedule announced locally, and parking rules in many cities follow the holiday timetable only on Christmas Day itself. For the time left before the holiday itself, the Christmas countdown runs live in your time zone, and the mini-tool under the summary counts the weekends left from any date.