Is the stock market closed for the July Fourth holiday? Here’s what you need to know

Trading in oil futures CL.1, -0.05% and other energy products on the New York Mercantile Exchange will halt at 1 p.m. Eastern on Friday. Trading will resume at its regular time of 6 p.m. Eastern Monday.

The holiday may feel especially festive this year: after being cooped up for the past year, nearly 44 million Americans are expected to take to the road, even as gas prices hit their highest since 2014 and rental cars remain scarce.

But there’s still reason to be cautious: public-health officials are nervously watching the new delta variant of COVID-19, which has now been found in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Gatherings of fans for the Euro 2020 football tournament are likely to blame for the resurgence of cases there, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

Risky July Fourth practices long predate COVID-19, however. The Library of Congress notes that there were 1,531 deaths between 1903 and 1910 from “fireworks and other incidents during July 4th celebrations.” In 1909, more than 5,000 Americans were injured, leading President Taft to appeal for a “Sane Fourth.”

There may be some reason to approach financial markets with some caution, as well. All three benchmark indexes swept to fresh highs Friday, marking the seventh in a row for the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.75%.

The S&P, along with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.44% and Nasdaq Composite index COMP, +0.81% booked their best first half of the year since 2019, according to Dow Jones Market data.