Prop firm weekend holding: CME close and flat-by times

When CME futures close for the weekend, overnight vs weekend holding, and when 12 firms make you flat.

CME weekly close: Friday 5:00 p.m. ET
Reopens: Sunday 6:00 p.m. ET
Weekend holding allowed: 1 of 12 (Phidias Premium)

Rules checked on September 26, 2026 · By helloweekends Editors

Prop firm weekend holding means keeping a futures position open from the Friday close to the Sunday open. CME equity index futures stop trading Friday at 5:00 p.m. ET and reopen Sunday at 6:00 p.m. ET. Of the 12 futures prop firms we track, only Phidias allows weekend holding, on its Premium plan. The rest require you to be flat before the weekend, and most before every daily close.

When CME futures close for the weekend

CME Group lists its equity index futures, such as the E-mini S&P 500, as trading Sunday to Friday, 5:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Central Time, with a halt from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. CT each day. In Eastern Time that is 6:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Source: CME Group, S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures page, checked September 26, 2026.
Period	Central Time (CT)	Eastern Time (ET)
Weekly open	Sunday 5:00 p.m.	Sunday 6:00 p.m.
Daily halt	4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.	5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Weekly close	Friday 4:00 p.m.	Friday 5:00 p.m.

Rates, FX, energy and metals futures on CME Globex follow the same weekly pattern, while grains use a split session. Holidays change the times. Our futures market hours page has each product group and the holiday calendar.

Overnight vs weekend holding

Overnight holding means keeping a position through the daily halt, from one session into the next. Tuesday into Wednesday is overnight.
Weekend holding means keeping a position from Friday's close to Sunday's open, about 49 hours with no trading. Prices can open Sunday far from Friday's close, and you cannot exit in between.

A firm can allow one and not the other. The5ers lets its Swing program hold up to 1 mini or 10 micros overnight but bans weekend holding on both programs.

Flat-by times

An evaluation is a paid test with simulated trading, and firms set their own cut-off for it. Most cut-offs fall before CME's 5:00 p.m. ET close. Topstep and FundedNext use 4:10 p.m. ET, Lucid and Tradeify 4:45 p.m. ET, Take Profit Trader 4:55 p.m. ET. Many firms close open positions for you at that time.

What happens next differs. Tradeify says the auto-close does not fail the account. Take Profit Trader says missing an earlier product close or a holiday close liquidates the account. On holiday early closes, Tradeify's cut-off moves to 12:59 p.m. ET.

Overnight and weekend rules by firm

Rules checked on September 26, 2026.

Times as each firm states them; CT times converted to ET (add one hour). Firms in alphabetical order. Source: firms' official rules pages, checked September 26, 2026. *The5ers' FAQ gives the time as 4:50 p.m. CET, which does not match a US close, so we show the rule only.
Firm	Overnight	Weekend	Flat by
Alpha Futures Alpha Futures rules	No on simulated accounts (live accounts may hold)	No	4:20 p.m. ET, auto-closed
Apex Trader Funding Apex Trader Funding rules	No	No	Before the 4:59 p.m. ET close
Bulenox Bulenox rules	No	No	3:59 p.m. CT (4:59 p.m. ET)
Earn2Trade Earn2Trade rules	No	No	3:50 p.m. CT (4:50 p.m. ET), orders included
FundedNext Futures FundedNext Futures rules	No	No	3:10 p.m. CT (4:10 p.m. ET), auto-closed
Lucid Trading Lucid Trading rules	No	No	4:45 p.m. ET, auto-closed
MyFundedFutures MyFundedFutures rules	No	No	4:10 p.m. ET, auto-closed
Phidias Propfirm Phidias rules	Premium: yes. Fundamental, Express to Live: no.	Premium: yes. Others: no.	Fundamental: 9:59 p.m. UTC. Express to Live: session end. Premium: holding allowed.
Take Profit Trader Take Profit Trader rules	No	No	4:55 p.m. ET, auto-closed
The5ers Futures The5ers Futures rules	Swing: up to 1 mini or 10 micros. Day Trade: no.	No	Day Trade: 10 minutes before the daily close*
Topstep Topstep rules	No	No	3:10 p.m. CT (4:10 p.m. ET) each weekday
Tradeify Tradeify rules	No, live accounts included	No	4:45 p.m. ET (12:59 p.m. ET on holiday early closes)

Phidias describes Premium as allowing overnight and "over-week" holding. Firms that allow holding are collected in futures prop firms that allow overnight and weekend holding, and changes appear in prop firm rule changes.

Know the riskA prop firm evaluation is a paid service with simulated trading. Most people who buy one do not pass it, and firms change their rules, pause payouts and close. Not investment advice.

Questions

Which futures prop firms allow weekend holding?

Of the 12 firms we track, only Phidias allows it, on its Premium plan. The other 11 require you to be flat before the weekend.

What time do futures close on Friday?

CME equity index futures close Friday at 4:00 p.m. CT, which is 5:00 p.m. ET, and reopen Sunday at 5:00 p.m. CT (6:00 p.m. ET). Prop firms usually make you flat earlier than that.

What happens if I am still in a trade at the flat-by time?

Many firms close it for you. Tradeify says this does not fail the account. Take Profit Trader says missing an earlier product or holiday close liquidates the account, so read your firm's rule.

Is overnight holding the same as weekend holding?

No. Overnight means holding through the daily halt into the next session. Weekend means holding from Friday's close to Sunday's open. The5ers Swing allows a small overnight position but no weekend holding.

Sources

All checked on September 26, 2026.