Closing Quote

Market Exchanges around the world each have set hours for daily trading sessions, since most people involved with trading securities presumably wish to engage in normal civilian lives for at least a few hours out of the day. In the US, the stock market officially closes at 4 pm EST. The final quote for a security when the bell rings is considered the official closing quote, and will be referenced as such for all market records in order for technical analysts, investors, fund managers, et al. to gauge that security’s potential trend, and what decisions should be made accordingly.

Of course, there are after-hours and pre-market trading that occurs, usually from institutions placing orders as a result of news events or earnings reports. In the case of global markets for Forex or Commodity futures, trading begins in the US on Sunday evening at 6 pm EST and continues until Friday at 5:15 pm EST.

And as Porky Pig was prone to say, “And-and-and-and-th-th-that’s all, folks!”