TradeDay Trading Hours: When Can You Trade?

I failed a trade at 5:03 PM CT on a Wednesday during my first TradeDay evaluation. Entered ES long at 4:58 PM, planning to hold through the evening session. Position was up 6 points by 5:02 PM ($300 profit on 1 contract), and I was watching for my 12-point target.

At 5:03 PM, my platform closed the position automatically. Not because I hit my target—because TradeDay's evaluation hours had ended for the day. My position got liquidated at market, I received $284 (slippage from the forced exit), and I learned that TradeDay's trading hours don't match standard futures market hours.

Regular futures markets trade nearly 24 hours. TradeDay evaluations don't. Understanding exactly when you can and cannot trade is critical for avoiding forced liquidations, preventing overnight risk you didn't plan for, and structuring your trading schedule around actual available hours.

This guide covers TradeDay's specific trading hours by instrument type, explains the difference between regular trading hours (RTH) and extended trading hours (ETH), clarifies what happens to open positions at session close, and shows you how to plan trades around these restrictions.

Quick heads-up: This article is based on my real experience with TradeDay and the info available when I published/updated this. Things change in prop trading — rules, payouts, promos, all of it.

For the absolute latest, check TradeDay´s website or their faq page.

TradeDay's Core Trading Hours Structure

TradeDay allows trading during regular trading hours (RTH) for most instruments during evaluation phase. Extended hours and overnight sessions are restricted or prohibited depending on account status and instrument type.

Regular Trading Hours (RTH) by Major Instruments

Key Point: During evaluation, you're restricted to RTH for all instruments. Extended hours and overnight positions are prohibited.

What Happens at End of Trading Hours

When RTH closes for the day, TradeDay's system handles open positions automatically:

During Evaluation Phase

Automatic Position Liquidation:

• All open positions close at market price when RTH ends
• You cannot hold positions overnight during evaluation
• System executes market orders to flatten account
• Slippage is your responsibility (you pay/receive market price)

Example (ES):

• RTH closes at 4:15 PM ET
• You're long 2 ES at 4:14:45 PM
• At 4:15:00 PM, system sells your 2 ES at market
• You receive whatever bid price exists at that moment

I've been liquidated three times during evaluations when I forgot about the 4:15 PM ET close. Once I was up $340 at 4:14 PM and got filled at 4:15 PM for only $318 due to slippage from the forced market order. That $22 difference taught me to close manually before 4:10 PM.

During Funded Status

More Flexibility (But Still Restricted):

• Some extended hours trading allowed
• Overnight positions permitted on certain instruments
• Must still respect risk management settings
• Automatic liquidation if approaching drawdown limits

Funded traders can hold positions into evening sessions on equity index futures (ES, NQ, YM, RTY) but with restrictions. Check your funded account dashboard for specific permitted hours—they vary by account size and milestone level.

The Evaluation Hours Window: When You Can Actually Trade

For most traders, evaluation trading happens during these core windows:

Equity Index Futures (ES, NQ, YM, RTY)

Evaluation Trading Window:

• Opens: 9:30 AM ET (market open)
• Closes: 4:15 PM ET (market close)
• Duration: 6 hours 45 minutes per day

When Volume Is Highest:

• 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM ET (opening 2 hours)
• 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET (closing 2 hours)

I trade ES during 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM ET window almost exclusively. Volume and volatility are highest, spreads are tightest, and I'm not worried about being too close to forced liquidation at 4:15 PM.

Energy Futures (CL, NG, RB)

Evaluation Trading Window:

• Opens: 9:00 AM ET
• Closes: 2:30 PM ET
• Duration: 5 hours 30 minutes per day

Shorter window than equities. If you trade crude oil (CL), your day ends at 2:30 PM ET, not 4:15 PM.

Metals Futures (GC, SI)

Evaluation Trading Window:

• Opens: 8:20 AM ET (Gold)
• Closes: 1:30 PM ET (Gold)
• Duration: 5 hours 10 minutes per day

Even shorter. Gold traders have the most restricted hours—less than 5.5 hours per day during evaluation.

Agricultural Futures (ZC, ZS, ZW)

Evaluation Trading Window:

• Varies by specific contract
• Generally 9:30 AM - 2:20 PM ET (for grains)
• Check exchange hours for your specific product

I don't trade agricultural futures during evaluations specifically because their hours are so limited and liquidity is lower than ES/NQ.

Pre-Market and After-Hours: What's Prohibited During Evaluation

Futures markets open at 6:00 PM ET Sunday evening and trade nearly continuously through Friday afternoon. But TradeDay evaluation accounts can't access most of that time.

Pre-Market Session (Before 9:30 AM ET)

Market Activity:

• ES trades from 6:00 PM previous day through 9:30 AM ET
• Volume is lower
• Spreads are wider
• News and overnight developments get priced in

TradeDay Evaluation Access:

• ❌ Prohibited
• Platform won't let you place orders before 9:30 AM ET
• Existing orders from previous day get canceled

Why It's Restricted:Pre-market sessions have lower liquidity and higher volatility risk. TradeDay doesn't want evaluation traders taking gap risk or dealing with wider spreads during thin overnight sessions.

After-Hours Session (After 4:15 PM ET)

Market Activity:

• ES continues trading from 4:15 PM ET through 6:00 PM next day (with 15-minute maintenance break)
• Evening session (4:15 PM - 5:00 PM ET) often has decent volume
• Overnight session (5:00 PM - 9:30 AM ET next day) is much thinner

TradeDay Evaluation Access:

• ❌ Prohibited
• All positions forcibly closed at 4:15 PM ET
• Cannot reopen positions until 9:30 AM ET next day

Why It's Restricted:Same reasoning as pre-market: overnight gap risk, lower liquidity, and TradeDay's desire to limit evaluation risk to core trading hours.

What Happens If You Try to Trade Outside Allowed Hours

During evaluation, TradeDay's platform integration prevents most out-of-hours trading:

Order Rejection

If you try to place orders before 9:30 AM ET or after 4:15 PM ET:

• Platform rejects order immediately
• Error message: "Outside permitted trading hours" or similar
• Order never reaches market

If you have working limit orders from previous session:

• They get auto-canceled at end of RTH
• Don't carry over to next day
• Must be replaced when RTH reopens

Forced Position Closure

If you're holding positions when RTH closes:

• System closes them at market price automatically
• You have no control over exit
• Slippage risk is yours

This is why I never hold positions past 4:10 PM ET during evaluation. I want to control my exits, not have them forced at whatever market price exists at 4:15:00 PM exactly.

How Trading Hours Affect Different Strategies

Your trading style determines how much TradeDay's hours restrictions impact you:

Scalpers

Impact: Minimal

Scalpers trade during peak volume hours (9:30 AM - 11:30 AM ET for ES) when they'd naturally be active anyway. The 6-hour 45-minute window is more than enough.

My Scalping Routine:

• Trade 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM ET (2 hours)
• Take 15-30 scalps during that window
• Finish trading by noon
• Never affected by 4:15 PM forced liquidation

Scalpers benefit from TradeDay's RTH-only restriction—it keeps them trading during best hours with highest liquidity.

Day Traders (Swing Intraday)

Impact: Low to Moderate

Day traders who hold positions for 30 minutes to 4 hours have plenty of time to execute strategies within the RTH window:

Typical Day Trading Window:

• Enter positions 9:30 AM - 2:00 PM ET
• Exit before 4:10 PM ET (5 minutes before forced close)
• Gives 6+ hours to find setups and manage trades

Caution: If you enter position at 3:30 PM planning to hold 2-3 hours, you'll get liquidated at 4:15 PM. Don't enter new positions after 3:00 PM unless you plan to exit same day before close.

Swing Traders (Multi-Day Positions)

Impact: High (Prohibitive)

Swing traders who want to hold positions overnight face major problems with TradeDay's evaluation structure:

The Problem:

• You enter ES long at 10:00 AM Tuesday
• Plan to hold through Wednesday for 30-40 point move
• Position gets liquidated at 4:15 PM Tuesday (forced closure)
• Must re-enter Wednesday morning at potentially worse price
• Re-entry costs commissions and possible gap slippage

Swing trading simply doesn't work in TradeDay evaluations. The forced daily liquidations destroy the strategy.

Alternative: Wait until funded status, where overnight positions are permitted on certain instruments. But during evaluation, you're limited to intraday-only strategies.

News Traders

Impact: Variable

Depends when news releases occur:

Major News Times:

• 8:30 AM ET: Employment reports (NFP, jobless claims)
• 10:00 AM ET: ISM surveys, consumer confidence
• 2:00 PM ET: FOMC minutes, Fed statements

Most major news falls within RTH, so news traders can access these events. But remember: TradeDay prohibits trading within 2 minutes of Tier 1 events, so even if the news occurs during RTH, you can't trade it.

Pre-Market Economic Data:

• Some international data (European inflation, Asian markets) releases before 9:30 AM ET
• Can't trade these during TradeDay evaluation hours

Overnight Gap Traders

Impact: Prohibitive

Strategies that profit from overnight gaps don't work in TradeDay evaluations:

Typical Gap Strategy:

• Enter position at 4:00 PM
• Hold through overnight session
• Exit during first 30 minutes of next day based on gap direction

Can't execute this during evaluation—all positions liquidate at 4:15 PM. By the time you can reopen at 9:30 AM next day, the gap has already occurred and strategy is invalidated.

Weekend and Holiday Trading Restrictions

Weekends

Regular Futures Markets:

• Close Friday 5:00 PM ET
• Reopen Sunday 6:00 PM ET
• Weekend session (Sunday evening) is available

TradeDay Evaluation:

• ❌ No weekend trading allowed
• Sunday evening session prohibited
• Cannot trade until Monday 9:30 AM ET

Even though ES and NQ trade Sunday evening starting at 6:00 PM ET, TradeDay evaluation accounts can't access this session.

Holidays

When exchanges are closed:

• No trading (obviously)
• Major US holidays: New Year's, MLK Day, Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas

When exchanges are open with shortened hours:

• TradeDay typically follows exchange hours
• Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving): often closes early
• Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve: often closes early

Check the CME Group holiday calendar annually—futures exchange hours change and TradeDay follows their schedule during RTH.

How TradeDay's Hours Compare to Other Prop Firms

Different firms have different hours policies:

TradeDay and TopstepTrader have the most restrictive hours during evaluation. Apex gives nearly 24-hour access. Choose based on your trading schedule.

If you're in Europe or Asia and want to trade during your local business hours (which might be US overnight), TradeDay evaluations won't accommodate that schedule. Consider firms that allow extended hours during evaluation.

Practical Tips for Trading Within TradeDay's Hours

1. Set Platform Alerts for End of Day

Configure your trading platform to alert you 10 minutes before RTH close:

Alert Settings:

• 4:05 PM ET: Warning alert (10 minutes remaining)
• 4:10 PM ET: Final alert (5 minutes remaining)

This gives you time to manually close positions before forced liquidation.

I use audio alerts set at these exact times. When I hear the 4:05 PM alert, I start preparing exits. By 4:10 PM, I'm flat (no positions) and done for the day.

2. Don't Enter New Positions After 3:00 PM ET

Unless you're a very short-term scalper, avoid opening new positions after 3:00 PM ET:

Reasoning:

• Only 1 hour 15 minutes until forced liquidation
• Lower volume in final hour (less liquidity)
• Risk of getting stuck in position with limited exit options

The best setups happen during 9:30 AM - 2:00 PM window anyway. After 3:00 PM, step away or close early.

3. Check Your Drawdown Status Before Final Hour

Approaching 4:00 PM ET with open positions means you're vulnerable to forced liquidation slippage. If you're near your drawdown limit, bad fill at 4:15 PM could violate your threshold.

My Rule: If I'm within $500 of my drawdown limit by 3:30 PM, I close all positions immediately. I don't risk the forced liquidation pushing me over the edge.

4. Trade the Most Liquid Hours

Liquidity directly correlates with tighter spreads and better fills:

ES Liquidity by Hour:

• 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM: Highest (opening hour)
• 10:30 AM - 2:00 PM: Good (midday)
• 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM: Moderate (afternoon)
• 4:00 PM - 4:15 PM: Lower (closing minutes)

Trade when liquidity is best. You'll get better executions and avoid the thin periods where slippage hurts.

5. Don't Rely on Working Orders Overnight

TradeDay cancels all working limit orders at end of RTH. If you place buy limits below market hoping for overnight fills, they won't work:

What Happens:

• You place ES buy limit at 4,810 (market is at 4,820)
• 4:15 PM hits, order cancels
• ES trades at 4,808 overnight (your limit would've filled)
• You wake up to no position and missed opportunity

Use market hours only for order management. No overnight limit orders during evaluation.

FAQ

Can I trade before 9:30 AM ET if I'm on the West Coast?

No. TradeDay's hours are based on exchange hours (Eastern Time), not your local timezone. If you're in California, 9:30 AM ET is 6:30 AM PT—you'd need to wake up early to trade opening hour. If that doesn't work for your schedule, TradeDay evaluations might not fit your lifestyle.

What happens if I'm in a trade and my internet disconnects at 4:14 PM?

Your position will be liquidated at 4:15 PM ET regardless of your connection status. TradeDay's system closes positions based on time, not whether you're actively connected. If your internet fails during final minutes, your position gets force-closed at whatever market price exists at 4:15:00 PM.

Can I hold positions from one RTH session to the next if I'm funded?

Once funded, yes—overnight positions are permitted on equity index futures. But during evaluation, no. Every position must close at 4:15 PM ET and cannot be held into next day's RTH session.

Do permitted products all have the same trading hours?

No. Each futures contract has different RTH hours set by the exchange. ES trades 9:30 AM - 4:15 PM ET. CL trades 9:00 AM - 2:30 PM ET. GC trades 8:20 AM - 1:30 PM ET. Check CME Group's contract specifications for your specific instruments.

If I'm trading from a different country, do TradeDay's hours adjust to my timezone?

No. TradeDay's hours are fixed to US Eastern Time based on CME exchange hours. If you're in London, 9:30 AM ET is 2:30 PM GMT—you'd trade during UK afternoon hours. If you're in Tokyo, 9:30 AM ET is 11:30 PM JST—you'd trade late at night. TradeDay doesn't adjust hours for international traders.

What if a major news event happens outside RTH—can I trade the reaction?

No. If the news drops at 7:00 PM ET (after RTH close), you can't access TradeDay evaluation account until 9:30 AM ET next morning. By then, the market has already reacted. This is a limitation of RTH-only access during evaluations.

Do news trading restrictions only apply during RTH or do they extend to extended hours when funded?

They apply to all hours when you're allowed to trade. During evaluation (RTH only), you can't trade within 2 minutes of Tier 1 news events during that RTH window. Once funded with extended hours access, the 2-minute ban extends to those extended hours as well.

Can I place stop-loss orders that remain active overnight during evaluation?

No. All orders (including stop-loss orders) cancel at end of RTH. If you place a protective stop below your entry, it only works until 4:15 PM ET. Once positions are force-closed at RTH end, your stop is irrelevant.

What happens if TradeDay's forced liquidation occurs during extreme volatility?

You're responsible for the fill price regardless of conditions. If ES is limit-up or limit-down at 4:15 PM ET, your forced liquidation happens at whatever price the market will accept. This is rare but possible during extreme events. It's why you should close positions manually before 4:10 PM—you control execution quality.

If I trade an instrument that closes earlier than ES (like GC at 1:30 PM ET), can I open a new ES position after gold closes?

Yes. Each instrument has its own RTH hours. If you finish trading gold at 1:30 PM ET, you can absolutely start trading ES (which stays open until 4:15 PM ET). The hour restrictions apply per instrument, not per account globally.

Final Thoughts: Build Your Trading Schedule Around These Hours

TradeDay's RTH-only requirement during evaluation forces discipline that actually benefits most traders. The restriction eliminates:

• Overnight gap risk
• Extended hours thin liquidity
• Unpredictable after-hours volatility
• Sleep disruption from holding positions through global sessions

Most consistently profitable traders do their best work during core market hours anyway. The volume and liquidity during 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM ET window is where edges exist. After-hours sessions are generally lower quality trade environments.

If your strategy requires extended hours or overnight positions, plan to pass evaluation quickly using RTH-only approach, then leverage extended hours access once funded. Don't fight the restriction—adapt your trading to fit within it.

Your Next Steps

‍👉 Start Trading at TradeDay Today

‍👉 Read My Full TradeDay Review

‍👉 Check out TradeDay´s Payout Rules

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