CME launches 23-hour single-stock futures, targets phone traders

CME Group began trading 55 standard single-stock futures and 22 Micro contracts on July 27. The initial list includes large-cap names such as Nvidia, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and Tesla. Contracts trade 23 hours a day from Sunday to Friday with a one-hour daily pause and settle in cash at expiry.

Standard contracts represent 100 shares and Micro contracts represent 10 shares. At a futures price of $200 a standard contract has $20,000 of notional exposure and a Micro $2,000. Futures require margin deposits smaller than the notional exposure, which creates leverage and results in daily gains or losses under futures settlement rules. CME reported the 55 underlyings generate more than $200 billion in average daily notional activity and account for roughly 55% to 65% of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 by index weight.

Single-stock futures returned to U.S. markets after an earlier venue, OneChicago, ceased operations in September 2020. The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 established joint SEC and CFTC oversight for these contracts. Historically, single-stock futures drew some institutional use but remained small compared with the options market.

Market structure has changed since the first U.S. launch. Options trading volumes increased substantially in recent years, same-day expirations have become common, and retail broker platforms now offer derivatives alongside stocks on mobile apps. A major retail brokerage reported very high options volumes and rising customer margin balances in 2026, reflecting growth in phone-based derivatives trading.

CME expanded its regulated crypto derivatives trading hours in 2026 and later applied extended hours and smaller contract sizes to the new single-stock futures. The equity contracts keep traditional features such as quarterly expiries and cash settlement while adopting a longer weekday trading window and Micro sizes aimed at smaller accounts.

Extended-hours trading can present execution risks. Regulators warn that trading outside the main session may involve fewer counterparties, wider bid-ask spreads, higher volatility, partial fills and inconsistent prices across venues. Leverage amplifies these risks because margin requirements can change quickly and futures realize gains and losses daily. Micro contracts reduce absolute position size but do not eliminate leverage or daily margin obligations.

The new futures will compete with extended-hours equities venues, options markets, index futures and platforms offering equity-linked products. Early measures of adoption will include first-week volume and open interest, overnight liquidity and bid-ask spreads, broker integration and market-maker participation. Trading may concentrate in a few names such as Nvidia and Tesla, while other contracts could remain thin.