CME extends 24/7 trading for WTI crude oil and gold futures

CME Group on Thursday announced that it would offer round-the-clock trading for new, smaller-sized crude oil and gold contracts, pending regulatory review.

The oil contract will be 1/10th the size of CME Group's existing micro WTI futures and is expected to launch on August 30.

"Traders are increasingly looking to diversify their portfolios across commodity markets in the face of geopolitical uncertainty," said Derek Sammann (pictured), CME Group senior managing director and global head of commodities markets.

"Our new WTI and gold futures provide regulated products that are right-sized and available 24/7, ensuring traders can manage exposure whenever news breaks."

The trading volume of WTI crude oil contracts has increased amid geopolitical conflict in the Middle East.

CME’s WTI crude oil options reached a record average daily volume (ADV) of 320,000 contracts in the first quarter of 2026. In addition, micro WTI crude oil futures ADV reached 272,000 contracts in May, a 317% increase from May 2025.

24/7 trading for the company's existing 1-ounce gold futures will begin on July 26.

CME Group's new, cash-settled 1-ounce gold futures contract launched in January 2025, with ADV of 90,000 contracts traded in 2026.

This development comes after CME Group started extended trading hours for its cryptocurrency futures and options complex to a continuous schedule from May 29.

The exchange also announced on Thursday that it will expand its benchmark suite of equity index futures with the launch of four new e-mini contracts, pending regulatory review.

The new contracts are e-mini Morningstar US total market index futures, e-mini Russell 3000 index futures, e-mini S&P 1500 composite index futures and e-mini S&P total market index futures.

All these contracts will be available for trading from June 29.

This comes after CME Group on Wednesday announced that it has entered into a multi-year licensing agreement with Morningstar to launch derivatives products based on key Morningstar equity index benchmarks, including the Morningstar US total market, large-cap, large-cap value, large-cap growth, mid-cap and small-cap indexes.

CME said that these products will enable market participants to trade futures on broad market indices covering more than 90% of the entire US investable market capitalisation.

"These new e-mini futures contracts expand our benchmark equity index ecosystem to meet growing client demand for unified, all-cap risk management tools," said Joe Hickey, global head of equity products at CME Group.

The launch of these new equity index contracts comes after the trading venue launched mid-curve options on S&P 500 Annual Dividend Index futures, alongside quarterly dividend index futures on the Nasdaq-100 and Russell 2000, on May 11.

The exchange operator also announced on Thursday that it will launch financially-settled micro e-mini S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 options on June 29, pending regulatory review.

These new micro options contracts will be one-tenth the size of their e-mini counterparts with short-dated Monday through Friday expiries. In addition, the contracts will be financially settled, eliminating the additional operational processes tied to underlying futures delivery at expiration.

"By combining a smaller contract size with the operational simplicity of financial settlement, we are providing traders with the capital-efficient and flexible toolset they need to manage benchmark U.S. equity index exposure with absolute precision,” said Hickey.

Meanwhile, CME Group filed a self-certification with the CFTC for the issuance of Market Regulation Advisory Notice to provide guidance on derived block trades executed in certain options on futures contracts starting June 29.