When is futures market open

The indexes are a current live representation of the stocks that are in them. This time gap is what causes our markets in the US to gap up or gap down at the open because our stocks have been traded at the exchanges around the world and have been pushed up or down during overseas markets.

An indicator that tracks the markets 24 hours a day is needed. This is where the futures markets come in. The index futures are a derivative of the actual indexes. Futures look into the future to "lock in" a future price or try to predict where something will be in the future; hence the name. The futures will move based on the section of the world that is open at that time, so the hour market must be divided into time segments to understand which time zone and geographic region is having the largest impact on the market at any point in time.

The first markets to open are the Asian markets including Australia and New Zealand , which trade between — ET. Europe opens at and trades until ET. However, Europe is still open and trading for the first 2 hours of the US market; so during the morning session of the US markets there is still European influence.

As the US markets close, a new day is starting over in Asia. And the cycle begins anew. The Asian, European, and US markets are on the chart on the left. The futures opened and started trading higher in Asia, then began to weaken.

Europe then opened and pulled the market down. The US then opened and began to retrace as Europe closed. Notice the gap in the chart on the right. Before the US market opened, it was known that Europe was weak and that the US would begin at lower prices. For some stocks, the opening price is set through an auction procedure, and if the bids and offers do not overlap, the stock remains closed until matching orders come in.

The longer index arbitrageurs stay on the sidelines, the greater the chances that other market activity will negate the index futures direction signal. Buyers may want to hold off when index futures predict a lower opening, too.

Nothing is guaranteed, however. Index futures do predict the opening market direction most of the time, but even the best soothsayers are sometimes wrong. Career Advice. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Investopedia. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification.

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Trading Hours. Predicting the Opening Direction. In the Short Term. The Bottom Line. Agriculture futures trade on a wide range of commodities, from cheese, butter and milk to feeder cattle and pork bellies to grains like corn, wheat and soybeans. General trading hours are 6 p. Eastern time on Sunday until 4 p. Some of the agricultural commodities such as feeder cattle and pork bellies start early trading at p.

Many grains trade only from until in the morning Eastern time. Personal Finance Investing. When Are Futures Markets Open? By Tim Plaehn. A trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

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