The CFTC stayed the listing of CME’s 10-Barrel WTI Crude Oil futures on July 9, one day after NYMEX self-certified the contract and a day before around-the-clock crude trading could have started (CFTC). Crude oil futures hours are unchanged. For anyone trading a futures evaluation or a funded account, weekend exposure and the Sunday reopen work today exactly as they did last week.

What the CFTC stayed

CME announced the contract on June 11: a cash-settled 10-Barrel WTI Crude Oil future listed on NYMEX at one tenth the size of Micro WTI futures, with a planned launch on August 30 (CME Group). The same release announced 24/7 trading for 1-Ounce Gold futures.

On July 8, during an open public comment period, CME self-certified the crude contract, which the CFTC said would have allowed 24/7 crude trading to begin as soon as the next day. CME filed separately under Rule 40.3 asking for Commission approval. The CFTC stayed the self-certification under 17 C.F.R. 40.2© and said it will review the 40.3 filing (CFTC).

The order opened proceedings on whether NYMEX’s certification was false and, under Section 8a(7), asked NYMEX to limit trading to conventional hours: Sunday through Friday, 5:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT with a 60-minute daily break. NYMEX must file a written answer by July 24, 2026. Crude oil, the order says, is “not an ordinary candidate for continuous, around-the-clock trading,” though the order also states that it makes no final determination on whether the contract complies with the Act (CFTC order).

What it means for evaluation and funded accounts

An evaluation is a paid service traded on simulated accounts, and a simulated account cannot trade a market that is not listed. With the stay in place there is still no weekend session in CME crude, so a position carried past Friday’s close sits until the Sunday reopen at 5:00 p.m. CT, and oil news that breaks over the weekend still arrives as a gap at that reopen. The 10-Barrel contract, which would have been the smallest WTI product at one tenth of Micro WTI (CME Group), is not available.

Weekend holding is a firm rule rather than an exchange rule, and firms differ on whether an account may carry a position through Friday’s close at all. Read your firm’s rules page before the close; the CFTC action changed nothing there.

What happens next

NYMEX answers in writing by July 24, 2026 (CFTC order), and the CFTC reviews CME’s separate application for Commission approval (CFTC). According to Reuters, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said the commission was still examining whether 24/7 futures trading is consistent with its Core Principles (Reuters).