What Time Does the CME Futures Market Close? A Practical Guide to Trading Hours

If you trade futures, you’ve probably had this moment: it’s late in the afternoon, you’re watching a position drift, and you wonder—is the market about to close, or does it keep going? The CME futures market doesn’t follow the same rhythm as the stock market. It runs nearly around the clock, with only brief pauses. But “nearly” is the key word. Knowing exactly when it stops—and when it starts again—matters more than most traders admit.

The Daily Close: 4:00 PM Central Time

The standard answer for most CME futures contracts is 4:00 PM Central Time (CT). That’s the moment the CME Globex electronic trading platform shuts down for its daily maintenance window . For about an hour, from 4:00 to 5:00 PM CT, the system pauses, settlements are calculated, and the trade date rolls forward .

At 5:00 PM CT, the market reopens for the next trading session . This daily rhythm repeats Monday through Friday. It’s a short break, but it’s a real one—positions don’t move, orders don’t fill, and if you’re watching a live quote at 3:59 PM CT, you have one minute before the screen goes quiet.

Not every contract follows the same clock, though. Agricultural futures like corn and soybeans typically close earlier, around 1:20 PM CT . Equity index futures and energy contracts hew closer to the 4:00 PM CT standard . The takeaway: “CME closes at 4:00 PM CT” is a useful default, not a universal rule.

Friday Close, Sunday Open: The Weekend Gap

The weekly close is the one that catches people off guard. Most futures markets stop trading at 4:00 PM CT on Friday and stay closed until 5:00 PM CT on Sunday .

That’s a 49-hour gap. If major news breaks over the weekend—a geopolitical event, a surprise policy announcement—futures can’t react. When the market reopens Sunday evening, prices may gap sharply from Friday’s close . For anyone holding positions over the weekend, this is the longest stretch of illiquidity in the regular trading week.

The Sunday open itself is often quiet, but it’s also when traders position themselves for the week ahead. If you’re checking quotes before Monday’s cash market opens, you’re watching the Sunday session.

Holiday Hours: Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Everything In Between

U.S. holidays create their own rhythm. On Labor Day (Monday, September 7, 2026), CME Globex halts trading at approximately 12:00 PM CT and reopens at 5:00 PM CT the same evening for the next trade date . The same pattern applies to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, and Memorial Day . It’s an early close, not a full day off.

Thanksgiving is different. On Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 26, 2026), the CME trading floor is closed, and electronic markets observe modified hours . Equity index futures typically halt at 12:00 PM CT on the holiday itself, with some products resuming in the evening. The day after Thanksgiving often sees an early close as well .

For traders, the practical problem with holiday hours is that they’re product-specific. Grain futures, energy futures, and equity index futures don’t all halt at the same minute . A crude oil contract might trade until 1:30 PM CT on a holiday Monday while an S&P 500 futures contract stops at noon . Checking the CME Group’s official trading hours page before a holiday week isn’t paranoia—it’s basic risk management.

What “Close” Actually Means for Your Positions

Here’s where a lot of traders get sloppy. When the market closes, your positions don’t disappear. They simply stop moving. But if you’re not watching the clock—or if you’re away from your terminal—you might not realize that the market is about to go quiet.

The classic scenario: it’s 3:55 PM CT, you have a position in crude oil or gold, and you’re waiting for one more move. The close hits. Your position is frozen. You can’t close it, you can’t adjust it, and the settlement price is what it is. If you wanted out before the close, you’ve missed your window.

This is where having quick, low-friction access to your positions matters. You don’t need to be staring at a full MT5 terminal to know what’s happening. Camovia Tray turns MetaTrader into a system tray tool—hover over the icon, and you see your live positions and P&L without opening the platform. If you’re working on something else and the 4:00 PM CT close is approaching, a quick hover tells you whether you need to act before the pause hits.

The same logic applies to the Friday close. If you don’t want weekend gap risk, you need to close before 4:00 PM CT on Friday. Camovia Tray lets you close positions directly from the tray—click the position, click close, confirm . No terminal window, no Alt+Tab, no scrambling. The data stays on your machine, read locally from MT4 or MT5, so there’s nothing to log into and nothing to upload.

Why the Close Time Matters More Than You Think

Most of the time, the market is open. That’s the whole point of futures—nearly 24-hour access, five days a week. But the edges matter. The daily maintenance break, the Friday-to-Sunday gap, the holiday early closes—these are the moments when liquidity vanishes and decisions get made for you.

If you trade actively, knowing the close isn’t just trivia. It’s the difference between exiting on your terms and watching a settlement print you didn’t choose. And if you hold positions through the close, at least know when it’s coming.

A tool that keeps your positions visible without the weight of a full terminal doesn’t change the market’s hours. But it makes those hours easier to live with.