Globex

Globex is the CME Group’s electronic trading platform, launched in 1992 to allow futures trading outside of open-outcry pit hours. Today, virtually all CME futures volume: including equity index, energy, metals, and rates: trades electronically on Globex.

Globex trading hours

For equity index futures (ES, NQ, MES, MNQ):

Day	Hours (ET)
Sunday	Opens 6:00 PM ET
Monday–Thursday	Open continuously through 5:00 PM ET, then 1-hour break, reopen 6:00 PM ET
Friday	Closes 5:00 PM ET
Saturday	Closed

This gives approximately 23 hours of trading per day with a daily 60-minute maintenance window from 5:00–6:00 PM ET.

Why Globex matters for futures traders

Access: Globex allows traders worldwide to participate in US futures markets outside of US business hours. A trader in London, Tokyo, or Sydney can trade ES during their local morning.

Price continuity: because Globex runs nearly 24 hours, futures prices continuously incorporate new information: overnight earnings, geopolitical events, economic data from Europe and Asia: before the US cash market opens.

Pre-market context: the overnight Globex session creates the gap (or no gap) that greets traders at the 9:30 AM RTH open. Overnight high and low, and the relationship between current price and the prior RTH close, are key reference points for session planning.

Globex vs pit trading

Open-outcry pit trading on CME ended for most contracts in 2015. Globex is now the only trading venue for equity index futures. The transition to electronic trading increased transparency, reduced spreads, and democratized access for retail participants.