At the end of January,?CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) announced plans to cut trading hours in?its grain and oilseed markets, pending CFTC approval.
This came after the exchange received 4,000 responses to?a survey?about trading hours. ?
The exchange announced the news via a letter to customers; it included the following language:”by varying opinions on what the reduced hours should be, we are continuing to vet alternatives with our customer base. We will be communicating more specifics on the revised hours in the coming weeks.”
Fast forward to Tuesday and CME reiterated its plans in a press release. Pending CFTC review, CBOT grain and oilseed and KCBT markets trading will change from its current 21 hours on the floor and through CME Globex?electronic trading platform to 17.5 hours. ?
Tim Andriesen, Managing Director,?Agricultural Commodities?and Alternative Investments, CME Group said,?”Over the past several months, we have received significant customer feedback about the current CBOT grain trading hours. As a result, we engaged our customers more formally through one-on-one conversations, focus groups and an online survey, which attracted more than 4,000 responses, to determine what hours best meet their needs. While there were varying opinions about what the modifications to hours should be, we believe these changes balance the needs of our diverse global customers based on their feedback.”
Trimmed hours, beginning with evening trading on April 7, will affect electronic and floor trading hours for CBOT Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Soybean Meal, Soybean Oil, Rough Rice, Oats, and KCBT Wheat futures and options.
This also includes related CBOT and KCBT calendar spread options and inter-commodity spread options.
Here’s the changes:?
- Sunday to Friday, electronic trading from 7:00 p.m. to 7:45 a.m. CT
- Monday to Friday, break in electronic trading from 7:45 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. CT (This is new)
- Monday to Friday, floor and CME Globex trading from 8:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. CT
This comes as current trading hours has the market almost open 24 hours with the exception of a break between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Prior to expanding in 2012, the market had been on a 17-hour trading day.?