Of the many advantages futures trading offers over other asset types, the ability to trade around the clock, outside of traditional market hours, is exceptionally valuable.
Trade Futures When Other Markets Are Closed
Futures markets trade nearly 24 hours a day, 6 days a week, from 6:00 p.m. EST on Sunday to 5:00 p.m. Friday. Compared to stock & ETF traders’ relatively shorter trading session of only 6.5 hours / 5 days a week, futures traders have ample time to trade. This grants futures traders more trading flexibility and the freedom to manage positions almost any time of day.
For equity index traders, E-mini & Micro E-mini futures allow traders to participate in the same markets as Wall Street both before and after the stock market’s relatively short trading session. Index traders can more effectively take advantage of events such as earnings releases which occur outside of normal stock market trading hours.
Futures Trading Hours
Trading hours for futures contracts are determined by their respective exchanges. Each category, such as energy or equity index, has its own opening and closing times.
View the trading hours for each futures exchange here:
- Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)
- Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)
- Eurex
- Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE)
US Futures Market Traded Worldwide
The nearly 24-hour trading access for US futures attracts participants from across the globe. International traders regularly participate in the transparent and regulated futures marketplace with abundant trading opportunities every day. This includes categories like agriculture, crude oil, energy, equity index, interest rates, metals, real estate and weather.
American equity markets are well-established economic barometers of the global economy and have an international following. Traders worldwide speculate the Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq and Russell indexes daily via E-mini & Micro E-mini futures.
Convenience of Pre-Market and After-Hours Futures Trading
Above all, the ability to trade almost any time of day provides significant convenience for futures traders. This can help with finding market opportunities, getting comfortable with new trading software and analysis tools and practicing in a sim trading environment.
- Determine the best times of day to trade based on your schedule and market approach.
- Find the most appropriate markets to trade with ample time to analyze price & volume action.
- With a free futures demo, practice paper trading nearly any time of day with real-time futures data.
Discover Five Reasons to Day Trade Futures vs Stocks
Beyond being able to trade outside of traditional market hours, trading futures has a number of distinct advantages over stocks, including:
- Lower Minimum Investment Requirments for Day Trading
- Leverage
- High Liquidity
...to name a few.
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