Funded Simulator

Futures trading hours, and the earlier deadline your prop firm sets

CME equity index futures trade from Sunday 6:00 PM to Friday 5:00 PM New York time, with a one-hour break every weekday from 5:00 to 6:00 PM. Prop firms add their own, earlier deadline: Apex settles the day at 4:59 PM ET, Tradeify wants you flat by 4:45 PM ET and Topstep's trading day ends at 3:10 PM Chicago time.

By FundedSim Desk · updated

The exchange clock

For the E-mini and Micro E-mini equity index contracts, CME Globex runs:

A new trading day starts at 6:00 PM. A trade at 8:00 PM on Monday evening belongs to Tuesday's session.

The prop firm clock is earlier

FirmDeadlineWhat happens
Apex4:59 PM ETthe day is settled for the drawdown; positions must be closed
Tradeify4:45 PM ET (12:59 PM ET on early-close holidays)open positions are closed for you, no penalty
Topsteptrading day 5:00 PM to 3:10 PM CTthe day ends at 3:10 PM Chicago time
MyFundedFuturessession closepositions are closed automatically, no overnight holds

New York and Chicago are one hour apart: 3:10 PM Chicago is 4:10 PM New York.

Why the deadline matters for drawdown

On an end-of-day account the deadline is the moment your floor gets recalculated. A trade you close at 4:58 PM ET on an Apex account is part of today's close. Open the same trade at 6:05 PM and it belongs to tomorrow. A late winner raises tomorrow's floor, not today's.

Holidays

Exchange holidays shorten or close sessions, and firms adjust their deadlines with them. Tradeify, for example, moves its close to 12:59 PM ET on early-close days. Check the firm's holiday notice before trading a short session, because a position you thought you had until 4:45 PM may be closed at 1:00 PM.

Practice on the right clock

The simulator uses each firm's own day boundary: Apex settles at 4:59 PM ET and starts the next session after the 5:00 PM Chicago reset. Log a late-day trade and watch which day it lands on.

Blow it here, not on a paid eval

Run the same rules on your own trades in the simulator. Free, no card, and a blown account costs you nothing but pride.

Start practicing

Sources

Firm rules change. We link the official page for every number and note when we last checked it. If the firm says something different today, the firm wins.