CME Globex closes early on Friday, July 3. Independence Day falls on a Saturday in 2026, so the holiday is observed the day before. Most financial futures stop at noon CT and reopen Sunday at 5:00 pm CT, according to NinjaTrader’s 2026 holiday hours page. Anyone in a futures evaluation or on a funded account gets a short Friday and a long weekend.
What CME published
CME Group’s trading-hours page lists the Independence Day schedule as covering 3 to 5 July 2026, with the Chicago trading floor closed on Friday, July 3. The same page notes that holiday hours are usually finalized roughly two weeks before the holiday, so late adjustments are possible. Day orders entered after Thursday’s pre-open session cancel automatically at Friday’s close, and July 2 TAM, TAM (Platts) and TAS close at the regular time for each product (CME Group).
Friday is not uniform across the exchange. NinjaTrader’s holiday page breaks it down this way:
| Products | Friday, July 3 |
|---|---|
| Equities, interest rates, energy, FX, metals | Close 12:00 pm CT, next session Sunday 5:00 pm CT |
| Grains, livestock, dairy, lumber | No trading |
| Cryptocurrencies | Regular hours |
Friday’s trades carry a July 6 trade date
The official trade date for all transactions on July 3, 2026 is July 6, 2026. CME’s client systems documentation gives the general rule behind it: on Friday US holidays when Globex trades but CME Clearing is closed, the Globex trade date aligns to the next valid clearing trade date (CME Group Client Systems Wiki).
So a fill at 11:00 am CT on Friday clears under Monday’s date, even though Monday is a full session.
What it means for an evaluation or funded account
An evaluation is a paid service traded in simulation, and the count of trading days, the daily loss limit reset and any minimum-days requirement are set by the firm, not by the exchange. A trade date that rolls to July 6 raises an obvious question about whether Friday’s session and Monday’s session land in the same counted day. The firm’s own rules page is where that answer lives; it is worth reading before Thursday’s close rather than after a Friday fill.
What to check before Thursday’s close
Check which of your instruments still trade on Friday, since the grain and livestock complexes do not. Check any working day orders, because orders entered after Thursday’s pre-open are cancelled at Friday’s close. If your account carries an overnight or weekend flat-by requirement, confirm how it applies to a noon close ahead of a three-day break. And confirm with your firm how it counts a session whose trade date is July 6.
