Trading Hours by Product

Most futures products at Slay Markets trade nearly 24 hours a day, Sunday through Friday. Equity index, energy, metals, and interest rate futures trade from Sunday 6:00 PM ET to Friday 5:00 PM ET, with a daily maintenance break from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET. Agricultural (CBOT grain) futures trade two shorter electronic sessions each day, with the market closed between them. Open positions are not closed during the maintenance break — you simply cannot place new orders until the market reopens.

Timezone note: All times in this article are Eastern Time (ET). Trading hours shift by one hour with US daylight saving time (markets run on EDT in summer, EST in winter), and the session open and close times shift by one hour accordingly.

These Slay Markets trading hours are based on CME Group and exchange-published session times. Hours can change during holidays or special circumstances. For time-sensitive trading decisions, always verify current hours on the CME Group website (cmegroup.com).

All Slay Markets equity index futures — E-mini S&P 500 (ES), Micro E-mini S&P 500 (MES), E-mini Nasdaq-100 (NQ), Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 (MNQ), E-mini Dow Jones (YM), Micro E-mini Dow Jones (MYM), E-mini Russell 2000 (RTY), and Micro E-mini Russell 2000 (M2K) — trade Sunday 6:00 PM ET to Friday 5:00 PM ET with a daily maintenance break from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET.

All Slay Markets energy futures — Crude Oil (CL), Micro Crude Oil (MCL), Natural Gas (NG), RBOB Gasoline (RB), and Heating Oil (HO) — trade Sunday 6:00 PM ET to Friday 5:00 PM ET with a daily maintenance break from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET, the same session pattern as equity index futures.

All Slay Markets metals futures — Gold (GC), Micro Gold (MGC), Silver (SI), Micro Silver (SIL), Copper (HG), Platinum (PL), and Palladium (PA) — trade Sunday 6:00 PM ET to Friday 5:00 PM ET with a daily maintenance break from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET.

All Slay Markets interest rate futures — the 30-Year US Treasury Bond (ZB), 10-Year US Treasury Note (ZN), 5-Year US Treasury Note (ZF), and 2-Year US Treasury Note (ZT) — trade Sunday 6:00 PM ET to Friday 5:00 PM ET with a daily maintenance break from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET.

Slay Markets agricultural (CBOT grain) futures — Corn (ZC), Soybeans (ZS), Wheat (ZW), Soybean Meal (ZM), and Soybean Oil (ZL) — have shorter sessions than equity index, energy, metals, or interest rate futures. They trade two electronic sessions: an overnight session Sunday to Friday from 8:00 PM to 8:45 AM ET, and a day session Monday to Friday from 9:30 AM to 2:20 PM ET. The market is closed between sessions. All times in the table below are Eastern Time (ET).

Because Slay Markets agricultural futures have shorter electronic trading sessions than equity or energy futures, confirm the session times before placing overnight orders on grain or soft commodity contracts.

Slay Markets follows the exchange (CME Group) holiday trading calendar. CME Group and other exchanges observe reduced or closed trading sessions on US federal holidays, so Slay Markets futures hours can differ from the regular sessions listed above on those days. For the authoritative dates, see the CME Group holiday calendar at cmegroup.com.

Q: Can I trade futures overnight at Slay Markets?

A: Yes. Most Slay Markets futures markets are open nearly 24 hours a day, Sunday through Friday, with only a brief daily maintenance break (5:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET for CME products). This lets you react to news and events outside of US stock market hours. Agricultural (CBOT grain) futures trade two shorter electronic sessions — overnight Sunday to Friday 8:00 PM to 8:45 AM ET, and a day session Monday to Friday 9:30 AM to 2:20 PM ET — with the market closed between sessions.

Q: What happens to my open positions during the daily maintenance break?

A: Your positions remain open during the daily 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET maintenance break — they are not closed. You simply cannot place new orders during that window, and your positions resume trading when the market reopens at 6:00 PM ET.

Q: Do Slay Markets trading hours change with daylight saving time?

A: Yes. When the US observes daylight saving time (approximately March through November), markets trade on EDT. When standard time resumes (approximately November through March), markets trade on EST. The session open and close times shift by one hour accordingly.

Q: What hours does Gold, Crude Oil, or Corn trade?

A: Gold (GC) and Crude Oil (CL), like all Slay Markets equity index, energy, metals, and interest rate futures, trade Sunday 6:00 PM ET to Friday 5:00 PM ET with a daily maintenance break from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET. Corn (ZC) and other CBOT grain futures trade two shorter electronic sessions: an overnight session Sunday to Friday from 8:00 PM to 8:45 AM ET, and a day session Monday to Friday from 9:30 AM to 2:20 PM ET. The market is closed between sessions.

At Slay Markets, most futures markets (equity index, energy, metals, and interest rate) trade from Sunday 6:00 PM ET to Friday 5:00 PM ET with a daily 1-hour maintenance break from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET. Agricultural (CBOT grain) futures trade two shorter electronic sessions — overnight Sunday to Friday 8:00 PM to 8:45 AM ET, and a day session Monday to Friday 9:30 AM to 2:20 PM ET — with the market closed between sessions. Hours shift by one hour with US daylight saving time. Always verify current hours on the CME Group website (cmegroup.com) for time-sensitive decisions.