Futures Trading Hours: Complete Schedule for All Major Contracts (2026)

Futures markets are open nearly 24 hours a day – but not all hours are equal, and the schedule varies significantly by contract group. Trading ES during its Regular Trading Hours session is a fundamentally different experience from trading it at 2 AM.

This guide is a practical reference for futures trading hours in 2026: the full Globex schedule, RTH windows by product group, global session overlaps, holiday closures, and the two recurring traps that catch traders off guard every year.

Important: All times in this article are Central Time (CT) unless explicitly noted. CME Globex operates on CT, not ET. This distinction matters – confusing the two will cause missed entries, unexpected position holds, and orders placed at the wrong time.

CME Globex: The base schedule

CME Globex is the electronic platform on which virtually all CME Group futures products trade. CME's trading hours for equity and interest rate futures run from Sunday 5:00 p.m. to Friday 4:00 p.m. CT, with a 60-minute break each day from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. CT.

This break is not optional and not platform-specific. There is a 60-minute break occurring each day when contracts are marked to market – a process that helps to inform overnight margin requirements and shows an updated profit and loss for each position in a trader's account. During this window, no orders can be placed or filled.

Weekly Globex rhythm:

The week begins Sunday at 5:00 PM CT. It ends Friday at 4:00 PM CT. There is no trading Saturday or during the 4–5 PM CT daily maintenance window.

Regular trading hours (RTH) by product group

The full Globex session and Regular Trading Hours are not the same thing. RTH is the high-volume window that overlaps with the U.S. cash session – when liquidity is deepest and spreads are tightest. For equity index futures, RTH runs 8:30 AM to 3:15 PM CT and carries roughly 70% of daily volume.

RTH windows differ significantly by product group:

Equity index futures share the same RTH: 8:30 AM to 3:15 PM CT. Commodities and currencies close their RTH windows earlier, between noon and 1:30 PM CT. If you're running a mixed portfolio across product groups, your effective trading day is shorter than you think.

COMEX gold (GC) trades Sunday 5:00 PM to Friday 4:00 PM CT with Regular Trading Hours from 7:20 AM to 12:30 PM CT. Gold also sees significant volume during the London overlap from roughly 3:00 to 5:00 AM CT, which makes it unusual among CME products.

Why RTH matters more than Globex hours

The Globex session runs almost continuously – but volume is not continuous.

Outside of RTH, the following conditions are common:

• Wider bid-ask spreads – fewer market makers quoting tightly
• Thinner order books – large orders move price more than during RTH
• Gap risk – price can jump significantly between the overnight session and the RTH open, particularly after 8:30 AM ET economic data releases
• Erratic fills – limit orders may partially fill or not fill at stated price

Near-24-hour access does not mean constant liquidity. Volume and spreads change by venue and by region. Know the exchange rhythm first; pick your trading window second.

For most retail day traders, the practical trading day on equity index futures is 8:30 AM – 3:15 PM CT – not the full Globex session.

Global session overlaps and liquidity indows

Futures markets respond to global events in real time. Understanding which geographic session drives each contract helps identify when volume – and opportunity – concentrates.

Most productive window for ES/MES traders: The first 90 minutes of RTH – 8:30 to 10:00 AM CT (9:30–11:00 AM ET). This window concentrates the opening directional move, initial data reactions, and the highest intraday volume of the session.

For gold (GC/MGC): The London open at 2:00–4:00 AM CT generates meaningful volume before the U.S. RTH session begins. Traders focusing on gold often monitor this window even if they primarily trade during RTH.

2026 holiday schedule

The CME holiday schedule for 2026 includes three full closures – New Year's Day, Good Friday, and Christmas – and several early close days where equity products halt around 12:15 PM CT and energy and metals at 12:30 PM CT.

Full closures (no trading):

Early close days (equity index futures halt ~12:15 PM CT):

Good Friday 2026 – special case: April 3, 2026 is a special case: NFP coincides with Good Friday, resulting in unique settlement procedures. CME Group Equities, FX, Cryptocurrency and Interest Rate products have unique closes and settlements for trade date April 3. No trading for Friday April 3 trade date in observance of Good Friday. Markets reopen Sunday, April 5 at 5:00 PM CT for Monday's trade date.

For any holiday, trading hours are usually finalized approximately two weeks prior to the holiday – always verify on cmegroup.com before trading around a scheduled closure.

Common mistakes around trading hours

1. CT vs ET confusion

All CME session times are Central Time. Convert carefully before setting alarms or automated orders. The RTH open for ES is 8:30 AM CT / 9:30 AM ET – not 8:30 AM ET. Traders outside the US frequently place orders an hour early or late due to this confusion, especially around DST transitions.

2026 DST dates: The U.S. springs forward on the second Sunday of March (March 8, 2026) and falls back on the first Sunday of November (November 1, 2026).During these transitions, the CT-to-local-time offset shifts for traders outside the US while CME hours remain fixed in CT.

2. Holding into the maintenance break

The 4:00–5:00 PM CT maintenance window is a hard stop – no orders execute during this period. Positions held open at 4:00 PM CT remain open through the break and resume at 5:00 PM CT, but cannot be managed for the full hour. Day traders intending to close the same-session should exit before 3:45 PM CT to avoid being held through the break.

3. Trading on modified holiday schedules without checking

On early close days, futures typically halt between 12:00 PM and 1:15 PM CT depending on the product. A trader expecting a full RTH session on a holiday will find the market closed mid-morning. Thinner volume in the days before and after major holidays also leads to wider spreads and less predictable price behavior.

4. Prop firm flat-by-close rules

Most prop firms require flat positions before 3:10–3:59 PM CT. Missing this cutoff can blow your account. If you trade on a funded account, your firm's session rules may be stricter than the exchange schedule – always check the platform-specific cutoff time.

Frequently asked questions

1. What time do futures markets open? CME Globex opens at 5:00 PM CT on Sunday for equity index, energy, metals, and currency futures. Grain futures (ZC, ZS, ZW) open at 7:00 PM CT Sunday. The high-volume RTH session for equity index futures begins at 8:30 AM CT (9:30 AM ET) Monday through Friday.
2. When do ES futures close? ES futures close for their daily maintenance break at 4:00 PM CT. The RTH session ends at 3:15 PM CT. The full weekly session ends Friday at 4:00 PM CT and resumes Sunday at 5:00 PM CT.
3. Are futures markets open on weekends? No. CME Globex is closed Saturday and for most of Sunday until 5:00 PM CT. Crypto futures on some other exchanges trade 24/7, but CME-listed crypto futures (BTC, MBT, ETH) follow the standard Globex schedule.

Conclusion

Futures markets run nearly continuously – but liquidity does not. RTH windows concentrate 70%+ of daily volume for most contracts, and trading outside those windows carries meaningful execution risk. Bookmark the CME holiday calendar, fix the CT vs ET distinction permanently, and know the exact maintenance break time for every platform you use. The schedule itself is not complex; the mistakes come from not checking it.

All times subject to change. Verify current schedules at cmegroup.com before each trading week.