Overview
- CME announced on June 11 that it will start 24/7 trading for its existing 1‑Ounce gold futures on July 26 and will launch a new cash‑settled 10‑barrel WTI crude futures contract on August 30, both subject to regulatory review.
- The new oil contract is one‑tenth the size of Micro WTI and one‑hundredth the size of the standard WTI contract, and both the oil and gold contracts will be cash‑settled so no physical delivery is required.
- CME said both products will trade continuously on its Globex platform with brief maintenance windows, though it has not published final margin rules, fees, or liquidity guarantees.
- The exchange framed the changes as a response to strong demand for smaller, more granular contracts, citing a surge in Micro WTI volume and record WTI options activity that has increased trader interest in round‑the‑clock access.
- Market participants and commentators say the moves could let traders react faster to geopolitical events but also raise questions about off‑hours liquidity, risk management, and how regulators will assess continuous trading for core commodity markets.