The Exchange announced today its intention to open trading at 2 PM Mondays through Thursdays on the NYMEX ACCESS® electronic trading system. The current weekday opening time is 3:15 PM. The closing times for the session will remain at 8:00 AM for gold, silver, and copper futures, and 7:40 AM for aluminum futures. The Sunday evening opening time of 7 PM for all contracts also will not be changed.
Under the terms of the 1994 NYMEX/COMEX merger, COMEX Division members have 10 days to request a vote on any change in trading hours. The Exchange plans to announce a start date following the 10–day period.
Exchange President J. Robert Collins, Jr., said, "This change will narrow the afternoon window that these metals markets are closed to less than one hour at a time when market access is more important than ever to the metals industry."
