NQ and ES trading hours by session
NQ, MNQ, ES and MES trade on CME Globex from Sunday 6:00 PM ET to Friday 5:00 PM ET, with a one-hour break every day from 5:00 to 6:00 PM ET. Within that, traders split the day into the Asia, London and New York sessions. Here are the times in Eastern and Central time.
Sessions in Eastern and Central time
| Session | ET | CT | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Globex open (Sunday and each evening) | 6:00 PM | 5:00 PM | Trading resumes after the daily break. |
| Asia session | 6:00 PM to about 3:00 AM | 5:00 PM to about 2:00 AM | Tokyo opens 8:00 PM ET in summer, 7:00 PM ET in winter. Usually the quietest stretch. |
| London session | about 3:00 AM to 8:30 AM | about 2:00 AM to 7:30 AM | London opens 3:00 AM ET most of the year, 4:00 AM for a few weeks in March and late October. |
| US data releases | 8:30 AM and 10:00 AM | 7:30 AM and 9:00 AM | Most high-impact economic releases come out at these times. |
| New York open (cash open) | 9:30 AM | 8:30 AM | Volume and range jump; the first 30 minutes are the busiest of the day. |
| Midday | about 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM | about 10:30 AM to 1:00 PM | Volume usually fades. |
| Cash close | 4:00 PM | 3:00 PM | The stock market closes; futures keep trading. |
| Futures close and daily break | 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM | 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM | No trading. Friday's 5:00 PM ET close is the end of the week. |
Session boundaries are conventions
The exchange defines only the open, the close and the daily break. "Asia", "London" and "New York" are trader conventions, and different platforms draw them a little differently. What is fixed is the clock time of the big events: the 6:00 PM ET reopen, the London open, the 8:30 AM ET data, the 9:30 AM ET cash open and the 4:00 PM ET cash close.
Weekends and holidays
There is no CME NQ or ES trading from Friday 5:00 PM ET to Sunday 6:00 PM ET. On US market holidays the futures usually trade a shortened session and close early; check the exchange holiday calendar for the exact times.
Prop-firm deadlines
Most futures prop firms require you to be flat before the daily break, and some set their own earlier cutoff. The deadline is in your firm's rules; missing it is one of the most common ways to lose an account.
Which session do you actually trade best?
Upload your trades or connect Tradovate read-only. QuantLogic tags every trade with its part of the day (overnight, pre-open, the first 30 minutes, morning, midday, afternoon, the last 30 minutes) and its half hour, and shows where you make and lose money. Explore the free demo first.
No card needed for the demo. Read-only: QuantLogic never places orders.
Questions
- What time is the Asian session in EST for NQ futures?
- Traders usually count the Asia session from the 6:00 PM ET reopen to about 3:00 AM ET. Tokyo's stock market opens at 8:00 PM ET while the US is on daylight time and 7:00 PM ET in winter.
- Do NQ futures trade on weekends?
- No. CME NQ and ES stop Friday at 5:00 PM ET and reopen Sunday at 6:00 PM ET. A 'weekend Nasdaq' price shown elsewhere is not CME NQ trading, and NQ orders do not fill over the weekend.
- When does the NQ daily break happen?
- Every trading day from 5:00 to 6:00 PM ET (4:00 to 5:00 PM CT). Prop firms usually require positions to be closed before it.
- What are regular trading hours for NQ and ES?
- 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM ET, the hours of the US stock market. Futures keep trading until 5:00 PM ET.
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Educational content, not investment advice. Futures trading involves substantial risk of loss. See the risk disclosure.