What Time Do Futures Open on Sunday?
The short answer: CME futures reopen for the new trading week on Sunday at 6:00 PM ET, which is 5:00 PM CT. After the Friday close, the market is dark for the weekend and comes back to life Sunday evening.
What opens at the Sunday open
That 6:00 PM ET reopen applies broadly across CME Globex products — the equity-index futures (ES, MES, NQ, MNQ), COMEX metals like gold and silver, and energy contracts such as crude oil. From that point the market runs nearly 23 hours a day until the Friday 5:00 PM ET close, with a short daily maintenance break each evening.
Why the Sunday open can be choppy
The first hours of the week are often thin. Volume is light compared to the US daytime session, so spreads can be wider and price can travel further on less activity. The market is also pricing in everything that happened over the weekend — news, geopolitics, headlines — which can produce a gap from Friday’s close. That combination of light liquidity and fresh information is why many traders treat the Sunday open with extra caution.
What it means for your risk
If you hold a position over the weekend, the Sunday reopen is where weekend gap risk shows up — price can open meaningfully away from where it closed, with no opportunity to manage in between. In a structured, simulated funded account, that gap can interact with your daily loss limit, so it is worth knowing your program’s rules on overnight and weekend holds before you carry risk through the close. Always confirm exact open and cutoff times on your own platform, since they can vary by product.
CME Globex restarts the trading week.
Fewer participants means wider spreads.
Gaps and whipsaws hit harder when it’s thin.
Frequently Asked Questions
What time do futures open on Sunday?
Most CME Globex futures open Sunday at 6:00 PM Eastern time, which starts the new trading week. Index, energy, metals, and rate futures all resume around then, well before the Monday stock market open.
Why do futures open on Sunday evening?
Because Globex runs a continuous electronic session across time zones, so the week begins when Asian markets are active. Opening Sunday evening lets the market absorb weekend news gradually instead of gapping all at once on Monday.
Is the Sunday open a good time to trade?
Usually not for beginners. The Sunday evening session is often thin, with wider spreads and lower volume, so moves can be erratic. Many traders wait for deeper liquidity in the regular session before taking size.
Do all futures open at the same time on Sunday?
Most major CME products open around 6:00 PM Eastern, but exact times can vary slightly by contract. Always confirm the specific schedule for the instrument you trade, since the exchange sets and occasionally changes hours.
When does the futures week close?
The Globex week generally closes Friday at 5:00 PM Eastern, then reopens Sunday at 6:00 PM. Between those points the market runs continuously except for a short daily maintenance break each weekday.
Put the math to work in a funded account
Develop your sizing, risk, and execution in a structured, simulated environment with clear rules and a real path to funding.
Get Funded →