As some Australian's relish a public holiday today, one might be quick to put the thought of investing and the local share market onto the back-burner.
However – no rest for the wicked, as they say – as the local share market ready's itself for another big week of activity.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished the week 2.1% in the red to 7,185 points, its same level in May this year.
Read on for more details.
Is the ASX open today?
Yes. Despite being a public holiday for 4 of Australia's states and territories, the ASX is open today.
Trading will resume at 10am Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) after New South Wales, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania, and South Australia rolled the clocks forward into daylight savings over the weekend.
According to the ASX, the Australian markets will trade until 24 December, the day we settle in for a post-pandemic Christmas Eve.
In fact, the ASX is only closed 10 days of the year, the first New Year's Day and the last New Year's Eve.
The last time Mr Market took a day off to recuperate was back on 14 June for the Queen's Birthday long weekend. And ANZAC Day before that.
The public holidays that apply to the ASX are listed in the table below.
| Public Holiday | Dates for 2021 |
|---|---|
| New Year's Day | Friday 1 January |
| Australia Day | Tuesday 26 January |
| Good Friday | Friday 2 April |
| Easter Monday | Monday 5 April |
| ANZAC Day | Sunday 25 April |
| Queen's Birthday | Monday 14 June |
| Last bussines day before Christmas Day | Friday 24 December |
| Christmas Day | Monday 27 December |
| Boxing Day | Tuesday 28 December |
| Last business day of the year | Friday 31 December |
Source: ASX
So it may be prudent to keep an eye on the ASX today if you are invested or have been following a company's growth narrative.
Day-to-day volatility can be construed as just noise, but at the same time, avoiding it completely could be testing providence as well.
Aside from this, it will be business as usual for market participants in the Australian markets today.
Foolish takeaway
The ASX is open and trading today. It only has 10 days off this year and basically operates full-time otherwise.
The next business day off for the ASX is Christmas Eve this year, with a few days off in the holiday period afterwards.
