Chicago Mercantile Exchange · CME NQ
E-mini Nasdaq-100 (NQ) trading hours, contract specs and expiry
Live open/closed status and full session times, plus contract size, tick economics and expiry dates in one verified reference.
- Regular hours
- 17:00 (prev day)–16:00
- Tick value
- $5
- Contract size
- $20 × index
Verify against official exchange notices before trading; specs, hours and expiries carry separate review dates.
E-mini Nasdaq-100 (NQ) is a equity-index futures product listed on Chicago Mercantile Exchange. It trades on CME Globex nearly 23 hours a day: the session opens at 17:00 the previous day (Chicago time) and closes at 16:00, with a one-hour maintenance break. All schedule facts on this page are cross-checked against the exchange's official timetable, with review dates shown below.
Regular sessions
| Session | Exchange time | Beijing / Singapore | UTC | London | New York |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CME Globex | 17:00 (prev day)–16:00 | winter 07:00–06:00 (+1 day)summer 06:00–05:00 (+1 day) | winter 23:00 (prev day)–22:00summer 22:00 (prev day)–21:00 | 23:00 (prev day)–22:00 | 18:00 (prev day)–17:00 |
Conversions use standard winter/summer offsets; values can differ by an hour during the weeks when regions switch DST on different dates.
Is E-mini Nasdaq-100 (NQ) open right now? When does it open and close?
E-mini Nasdaq-100 (NQ) trades on Chicago Mercantile Exchange 17:00 (prev day)–16:00 US Central Time. Trading days: Monday to Friday; the Monday session already opens on Sunday at 17:00 exchange time. The next closure or special session is Nov 26 (Thanksgiving — early close 12:00 CT, reopens 17:00 CT). The status line below works out whether it is open right now from the same reviewed sessions and holiday calendar.
Live open/closed status: see the timeline on the home page.
- CME Globex: 17:00 (prev day)–16:00 US Central Time — Beijing / Singapore winter 07:00–06:00 (+1 day) · summer 06:00–05:00 (+1 day); UTC winter 23:00 (prev day)–22:00 · summer 22:00 (prev day)–21:00; London 23:00 (prev day)–22:00; New York 18:00 (prev day)–17:00.
- Next closures or special sessions: Nov 26 Thanksgiving — early close 12:00 CT, reopens 17:00 CT (special session); Nov 27 Day after Thanksgiving — early close 12:15 CT, no evening session (special session); Dec 24 Christmas Eve — early close 12:15 CT, no evening session (special session).
- No quotes or margin figures here; open/closed status is derived only from the exchange’s published sessions and holiday notices — verify exchange notices before trading.
Is E-mini Nasdaq-100 (NQ) open today or tomorrow?
The status line above resolves the current date in your own time zone. There is no Saturday trading; the week restarts Sunday at 17:00 US Central Time. On a weekday it is closed only on the dates listed above; otherwise the regular sessions apply — 17:00 (prev day)–16:00 US Central Time.
What are Nasdaq-100 futures (NQ) trading hours, and when do they open in Beijing time?
E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures (NQ) trade nearly 23 hours a day on CME Globex: Sunday–Friday 17:00–16:00 Chicago time (18:00–17:00 New York) — in Beijing time a 06:00 open Monday–Friday and a 05:00 close next day during US daylight saving, both one hour later (07:00 and 06:00) in US winter.
- A daily maintenance break runs 16:00–17:00 CT Monday–Thursday — 05:00–06:00 Beijing time in US summer, 06:00–07:00 in US winter; the week closes Friday 16:00 CT and reopens Sunday 17:00 CT.
- The micro contract MNQ keeps exactly the same hours at one-tenth the size; both expire in March, June, September and December, with the last trading day on the third Friday of the contract month.
- For live open/closed status use the clock link at the top of this page; holiday early closes are listed below.
Source: Futures Clock, reviewed 2026-09-04
CONTRACT REFERENCE
Contract specifications
- Contract size
- $20 × index
- Minimum tick
- 0.25 pt
- Tick value
- $5
Expiry rule3rd Friday, SOQ cash-settled
FRONT CONTRACTS
Upcoming expiries
* Estimated from the exchange rule and may move for holidays. Countdowns are measured from 2026-09-25 and refresh to your own date when the page loads. This is an on-site reference; external calendar subscriptions are not offered.
- Fields covered
- Specifications, expiry rule and front-contract dates
- Review state
- Accepted; rule estimates retain *
- Reviewed
- Rights state
- Approved for public reference
Official sourceCME · NQ ↗Methodology →
Holiday closures (2026)
- 2026-11-26Thanksgiving — early close 12:00 CT, reopens 17:00 CT
- 2026-11-27Day after Thanksgiving — early close 12:15 CT, no evening session
- 2026-12-24Christmas Eve — early close 12:15 CT, no evening session
- 2026-12-25Christmas Day closure
E-mini Nasdaq-100 listed contract months: last trading day & delivery
Full expiry calendar →As of 2026-09-25 the front-month E-mini Nasdaq-100 contract is NQZ6 (last trading day 2026-12-18), followed by NQH7 (2027-03-19); "front month" here means nearest expiry, not the most active contract.
| NQZ6 | LTD 2026-12-18 · delivery 2026-12-18 |
|---|---|
| NQH7 | LTD 2027-03-19 (est.) · delivery 2027-03-19 |
| NQM7 | LTD 2027-06-18 (est.) · delivery 2027-06-18 |
| NQU7 | LTD 2027-09-17 (est.) · delivery 2027-09-17 |
Dates are computed from the exchange contract text and the reviewed holiday calendar; open a symbol for its decode, month closures and neighbouring months.
Roll date and quarterly cycle
E-mini Nasdaq-100 next rolls on 2026-12-10, eight days before the December 2026 contract's last trading day (2026-12-18); volume moves to the next quarterly contract around this date.
| Contract | Last trading day | Roll date (convention) |
|---|---|---|
| NQZ6 | 2026-12-18 | 2026-12-10 |
| NQH7 | 2027-03-19 | 2027-03-11 |
| NQM7 | 2027-06-18 | 2027-06-10 |
| NQU7 | 2027-09-17 | 2027-09-09 |
The roll date is a CME equity-index market convention (the Thursday eight days before expiry), not an exchange rule; rule-derived dates are in the contract months table above.
FAQ
- What are E-mini Nasdaq-100 (NQ) trading hours?
- E-mini Nasdaq-100 regular sessions are: 17:00 (prev day)–16:00 (exchange local time).
- Does E-mini Nasdaq-100 trade overnight?
- Yes — its regular session crosses a trading-date boundary: 17:00 (prev day)–16:00 (exchange local time).
- Is E-mini Nasdaq-100 open right now?
- Check the live timeline for the current open/closed status of E-mini Nasdaq-100 and the countdown to the next open or close.
- Does E-mini Nasdaq-100 trade on weekends?
- Globex closes for the weekend at 16:00 Chicago time on Friday and reopens Sunday at 17:00.
- Is E-mini Nasdaq-100 closed for Christmas 2026?
- Yes — Christmas-related closures fall on 2026-12-25; see the 2026 holiday list on this page.
Sources & review coverage
Holiday data coverage: 2026-07-23 to 2026-12-31; regular sessions effective 2026-01-01.
- E-mini S&P 500 futures contract specifications - CME Globex hoursCME Group · reviewed 2026-08-08
- CME Group Holiday and Trading Hours 2026CME Group · reviewed 2026-07-23
Read the data sources, freshness and corrections methodology →