COMEX Exchange Hours: A Complete Guide to COMEX Trading Sessions

For traders who monitor gold, silver, copper, and other metals, understanding COMEX exchange hours is fundamental to building an effective trading routine. Unlike stock markets with fixed opening and closing bells, COMEX operates on a schedule that spans nearly 24 hours a day during the trading week. This continuous structure creates both opportunities and challenges—you can react to global events in real time, but you also need to know exactly when the market pauses and when it resumes.

What Is COMEX and Why Its Hours Matter

The Commodity Exchange (COMEX) is a division of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and serves as the primary futures and options exchange for metals trading in the United States. It hosts contracts for gold, silver, copper, aluminum, and other industrial and precious metals. Because metals prices respond to economic data releases, geopolitical developments, and currency movements across different time zones, COMEX maintains extended trading hours to accommodate global participation.

For active traders, knowing the COMEX exchange opening time and closing time is not just academic—it directly affects order execution, liquidity conditions, and risk management decisions.

COMEX Trading Hours: The Standard Schedule

The regular COMEX futures trading hours follow the CME Globex electronic platform schedule. In Eastern Time (ET), the exchange operates Sunday through Friday from 6:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. the following day, with a daily maintenance break from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET.

This means the COMEX market close time occurs at 5:00 p.m. ET each trading day, after which there is a one-hour pause before the next session begins. The weekly close happens on Friday at 5:00 p.m. ET, and trading resumes on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. ET.

Some sources express these hours in Central Time (CT), which shifts the schedule by one hour. In CT, the COMEX exchange opening time is 5:00 p.m., and the market closes at 4:00 p.m. the next day, Sunday through Friday.

Session Breakdown: Understanding the Trading Day

While the electronic session runs nearly around the clock, COMEX also has specific floor trading hours that differ from the electronic session.

The COMEX closing time for the regular trading hours session is 1:30 p.m. ET, which is when many contracts settle. However, electronic trading continues well beyond this point.

How COMEX Hours Compare to Other Markets

One of the distinctive features of COMEX futures trading hours is their overlap with both European and Asian sessions. When London markets are active in the morning, COMEX is already open from the previous evening’s session. When Asian markets open, COMEX remains accessible for most of their trading day.

This extended schedule means traders can respond to overnight news without waiting for a traditional market open. However, it also means that maintaining awareness of positions during off-hours requires additional diligence.

Special Schedules and Contract-Specific Variations

Not all COMEX contracts follow identical hours. Certain products may trade shorter hours, and traders should verify the specific schedule for the contract they are trading.

Additionally, CME Group periodically adjusts trading hours for certain contracts. For example, effective July 24, 2026, the 1-Ounce Gold Futures contract expanded to 24/7 trading with limited maintenance windows: Saturday 2:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. CT, and Monday through Friday 4:00 p.m. to 4:02 p.m. CT. This represents a significant shift from the traditional schedule and reflects the evolving nature of metals trading.

Holiday schedules also affect COMEX exchange hours. Around U.S. public holidays, the exchange may observe early closes or altered sessions. Checking the CME Group holiday calendar before major holidays helps avoid unexpected gaps in market access.

Practical Considerations for COMEX Traders

The nearly continuous nature of COMEX market hours presents unique workflow challenges. Positions remain open through the daily break and overnight, meaning price movements can occur while you are away from your screen.

For traders who use MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 to access COMEX-related instruments through their brokers, monitoring positions during extended hours often requires keeping the terminal open and visible. This can be inconvenient when you want to step away from your desk but still need to stay informed about significant price movements.

Managing Positions During Extended COMEX Hours

The gap between the COMEX market close time and the next session’s opening—while brief—can still see price gaps if significant news breaks during the maintenance window. Similarly, the weekend closure from Friday 5:00 p.m. to Sunday 6:00 p.m. ET exposes traders to headline risk without the ability to adjust positions.

For those who trade metals actively, having a way to check quotes and manage positions without constantly switching to a full trading terminal can make the extended schedule more manageable. Camovia Tray addresses this need by turning MT4 or MT5 into a system tray tool. Instead of keeping the terminal window open and visible, you can hover over the tray icon to see live quotes for your watchlist instruments and view open positions at a glance.

When you need to close a position during COMEX trading hours—whether it’s an early reaction to a price spike or a planned exit—the tray interface allows you to click the position card and confirm the close with a two-step process. This keeps position management accessible without requiring the full terminal to be front and center.

The application supports both MT5 (direct connection without an EA) and MT4 (with a one-time bridge EA setup), and all quote and position data stays on your local machine.

Key Takeaways for COMEX Trading Hours

Understanding COMEX exchange hours helps traders plan their sessions and avoid surprises. The core schedule—Sunday through Friday, 6:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET with a daily one-hour break—provides extensive access to metals markets. The COMEX exchange opening time of 6:00 p.m. ET on Sunday marks the start of the trading week, while the COMEX market close time of 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday marks its end.

For traders who want to stay connected to the market without being tethered to a full terminal, tools that provide quick access to quotes and position management can complement the extended COMEX schedule. Whether you are monitoring gold during the Asian session or checking silver positions before the weekend close, having efficient access to your trading data makes the continuous market more navigable.

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If you want to check quotes and manage positions without opening your terminal, Camovia Tray turns MT5/MT4 into a tray tool—with quotes and position data staying entirely on your computer.