Lunar New Year (LNY) 2026 brings thin liquidity and China-offshore price discovery, with travel/consumption the key narrative.
Summary:
-
Lunar New Year 2026 (Year of the Horse) falls on Tuesday 17 Feb.
-
Mainland China markets are scheduled to be closed Feb 16–23, reopening Tue Feb 24.
-
Hong Kong has half-day trading on Mon Feb 16, is closed Feb 17–19, and reopens Fri Feb 20.
-
Singapore (SGX) has half-day trading on Mon Feb 16 and is closed Feb 17–18.
-
China is running an extended nine-day Spring Festival holiday (Feb 15–23) with officials expecting a record travel surge, supportive for consumption narratives, but liquidity will be thin.
Lunar New Year 2026 lands on Tuesday 17 February and, as usual, it will reshape trading conditions across mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore, with liquidity effects often as important as the headlines.
Onshore, China’s equity market enters its biggest scheduled trading interruption of the year.
- The Shenzhen Stock Exchange calendar shows the market closed from Monday 16 February through Monday 23 February, resuming Tuesday 24 February.
- The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) will be closed for the 2026 Lunar New Year (Spring Festival) from Monday, February 16, 2026, to Monday 23 Feb 2026 (inclusive) Reopens: Tuesday 24 Feb 2026
With A-shares shut, price discovery shifts offshore (CNH, H-shares, ADRs, commodities proxies), while onshore macro/credit headlines can “bottle up” and reprice quickly when domestic trading resumes.
This year the macro overlay is the extended nine-day public holiday (Feb 15–23) and a policy push to encourage spending and travel, with officials projecting a record travel rush. That tends to support short-term themes in consumer, travel, catering, duty-free and tourism names, while also lifting scrutiny on high-frequency indicators (mobility, domestic flight bookings, hotel occupancy, box office, and retail receipts) as a real-time read on confidence.
Hong Kong becomes the key regional venue for China beta during the A-share closure. HKEX lists half-day trading on Monday 16 February (Lunar New Year’s Eve) and full market holidays Tuesday 17 through Thursday 19 February, with normal trade resuming Friday 20 February. Expect thinner depth, wider spreads and a higher sensitivity to CN headlines.
Singapore also sees disrupted liquidity. SGX notes half-day trading on 16 February, with the market closed 17–18 February. Regionally, the practical market impact is a short window where positioning gets lighter, volatility can be jumpy on small flows, and “reopen gaps” become a feature, especially if FX or commodities move sharply while China is closed.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.