Wall Street Closed for Slavery Abolition Celebration

In New York, the stock markets will remain closed on Monday because of Juneteenth, the day on which the abolition of slavery in the United States is commemorated.

 

The name Juneteenth is a combination of the words June (June) and nineteenth (nineteenth), referring to the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people were liberated.

Juneteenth has been a national holiday in the US since 2021, but this year marks the first time that Wall Street has also closed its doors for this annual commemoration. That happens a day after the actual holiday because it fell on Sunday. Juneteenth hosts parades and other major events. Commemorating the suffering of the victims of slavery is an important part of Juneteenth.

U.S. stocks will reopen on Tuesday. Investors’ attention this week will mainly be on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who will explain the policy of the central bank in the US Congress on Wednesday and Thursday. Last week, the Fed raised interest rates at the fastest rate in nearly 30 years to combat high inflation.

Unrest about sharply rising interest rates and fears of an economic recession has led to a lot of unrest on the stock markets recently. Last week, Wall Street even suffered its largest weekly loss since the start of the corona crisis. Powell has said he is determined to bring inflation down, even if it triggers a recession and increases unemployment.

The Dow Jones index closed the turbulent stock market week with a minus of 0.1 percent on Friday at 29,888.78 points. The main index fell below 30,000 points on Thursday for the first time since January last year. For the S&P 500, there was a small plus on the last trading day of the week, of 0.2 percent at 3674.84 points. Tech gauge Nasdaq rebounded 1.4 percent on Friday to 10,798.35 points.