ES Market Hours

Discussion in 'Index Futures' started by MissTick, Sep 28, 2011.

  1. MissTick

    MissTick

    Hello,

    I know this is going to sound like a stupid question but...

    Exactly which hours should I trade the ES? On the CME website it preety much mentions that it is a 24 hour market, however I think there are good times and bad times to trade it right?

    So could someone let me know in the real world of day trading -

    When is the open
    When is the close
    Should we stop trading during a lunch hour

    Sorry for these questions... I have been studying technical analysis and all of that stuff but now it is time for me to get to know the market I want to day trade intimately

    KR

    MissTick
     
  2. nitrene

    nitrene

    Here is the official hours of operation (from my IB TWS application):

    Trading_Hours:_September_28,_2011__Calendar
    Regular_Trading_Session
    __08:30_CST_-_15:15_CST_(06:30_PST_-_13:15_PST)____

    Total_Available_Hours
    __15:30_CST_-_16:30_CST_(13:30_PST_-_14:30_PST)
    __17:00_CST_-_15:15_CST_(15:00_PST_-_13:15_PST)
    _

    I don't know what timezone you are on but I live in California so the actual trading hours over here is 6:30 AM to 1:15 PM for the ES futures contract. The rest of the hours can be considered part of the Globex operations of the CME -- although technically the Globex differentiation doesn't really exist anymore since almost all contracts are on virtual 24/5 operation mode.

    Good luck,
    Sid