After a volatile start to the year, stock and bond markets in the U.S. will be closed on Monday, January 17 in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, or Sifma, has recommended closing of bond markets for the day, which may affect trading in the 10 year Treasury note TMUBMUSD 10 Y, the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq.
There will be no regular trading or settlements on the U.S. commodities markets, including Nymex crude oil and Comex-traded gold.
The holiday comes two weeks into a year in which stocks have started to fall due to the ongoing omicron wave of coronaviruses, a hawkish Federal Reserve, surging inflation and uncertainty about valuations ahead of the next corporate earnings reporting season.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA is down 1.2%, the S&P 500 SPX is down 2.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite COMP is down 4.8% through the close on Friday. The 10 year note has risen about 15 points as investors sell bonds, anticipating higher interest rates ahead.
Multiple changes to Monday's celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Communities from Alabama to Massachusetts have switched to online versions after initially planning in-person events, in many cases for the second year in a row.
Omicron is whacking local governments already stretched too thin.
Even so, investors continue to reward exchange-traded funds that are geared toward the re- opening of trade more than the work from home regime that dominated 2020. Global Jets ETF JETS was up 5.5% in the year to date, while Direxion Work From Home ETF WFH 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.