Quick answer: gold trades nearly around the clock on weekdays — opening Sunday evening and closing Friday evening (US time) — handed off between the Sydney, Tokyo, London, and New York sessions. COMEX futures and the LBMA’s twice-daily London auction each keep their own specific hours, detailed below.
“Gold trading hours” gets asked two different ways: traders wanting to know when gold is most active (covered in our intraday gold trading strategy guide), and traders who just want the actual open/close schedule and time zones. This page is the second one — a reference to when each part of the gold market is open, not a strategy for trading within it.
The Two Markets That Set Gold’s Hours
“Gold trading hours” isn’t one single schedule, because gold trades in two connected but separate places:
- Spot gold / CFDs (XAU/USD) — what most retail traders access through a forex or CFD broker. It tracks the interbank spot price and is available nearly 24 hours a day on weekdays, though your specific broker sets its own exact open/close and any maintenance windows.
- COMEX gold futures (GC) — the exchange-traded futures contract that much of spot pricing tracks. According to CME Group, it trades on CME Globex Sunday through Friday, with a daily maintenance halt (Monday-Thursday) roughly 5:00-6:00 PM ET.1
On top of both of those sits the LBMA Gold Price — not a trading venue itself, but a twice-daily benchmark auction that, according to the London Bullion Market Association, runs at 10:30 and 15:00 GMT and serves as the industry’s reference price. The benchmark traces back to the first London gold fixing in 1919, though it has run as an electronic auction administered by ICE Benchmark Administration since 2015.2
Gold Trading Sessions by Time Zone
| Session | Approx. open (GMT) | Approx. open (ET) | Notable scheduled events |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 22:00 | 17:00 (prior day) | Week reopens for spot/CFD trading |
| Tokyo | 00:00 | 19:00 (prior day) | Asian institutional session |
| London (LBMA) | 08:00 | 03:00 | The 10:30 GMT LBMA morning fixing sits inside this session |
| New York (COMEX) | 13:00 | 08:00 | Overlaps London until roughly 17:00 GMT / 12:00 PM ET; the LBMA afternoon fixing (15:00 GMT) also falls here |
Times are approximate and shift slightly with daylight saving changes in each region — always confirm current hours with your specific broker or exchange rather than relying on a fixed clock time. This table is a schedule, not a liquidity guide — for which of these windows tends to move the most and how to trade around that, see the intraday gold trading strategy guide.
The Weekend Close and the Gap Risk That Comes With It
Despite the “24/5” framing, gold is genuinely closed for roughly 48 hours every week: from Friday’s US close (around 5:00-5:15 PM ET) until the Sunday evening reopen. Nothing trades on your platform in that window, no matter what happens in the news.
That closure is why weekend risk is a real, specific hazard for gold positions: if significant news breaks between Friday’s close and Sunday’s reopen — a geopolitical event, a surprise data leak, a central bank statement gold can gap to a new price the moment trading resumes, with no opportunity to exit at Friday’s levels first. Holding a gold position over the weekend means accepting that gap risk, not just normal day-to-day volatility. Traders who don’t want that exposure close or reduce positions before the Friday close.
Market Holidays
Both COMEX and the LBMA observe their own holiday calendars (US federal holidays for COMEX; UK bank holidays plus some additional closures for the LBMA), and hours are often shortened around them even when the market technically stays open. Check your broker’s own holiday calendar before trading around a major US or UK holiday — hours and liquidity can differ from a normal week even when the platform shows “open.”
Key Takeaways
- Gold hands off between four regional sessions Sydney, Tokyo, London, New York from Sunday evening to Friday evening, with COMEX futures keeping their own specific CME Globex hours.1
- The LBMA runs two daily benchmark fixings, 10:30 and 15:00 GMT, used as the industry reference price.2
- The market is genuinely closed all weekend roughly 48 hours which creates real gap risk for any position held into Friday’s close.
- For when to actually trade within these hours (not just when the market is technically open), see our intraday gold trading strategy guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the gold market open right now?
Spot gold trades nearly continuously from Sunday evening through Friday evening, handed off between the Sydney, Tokyo, London, and New York sessions, with a short daily maintenance break. Check the session table above against the current day and time.
What time does the gold market close for the week?
Spot gold and COMEX gold futures both close for the week on Friday evening US time (around 5:00-5:15 PM ET, broker-dependent) and reopen Sunday evening.
Does gold trade on weekends?
No. Both spot gold and COMEX futures close Friday evening and stay closed until the Sunday evening reopen — see the gap-risk section above for what that means for open positions.
What is the LBMA gold fix?
A twice-daily benchmark auction (10:30 and 15:00 GMT) run by the London Bullion Market Association, used globally as a reference price for contracts, jewelry, and central bank transactions.
Sources:
1. CME Group — COMEX Gold Futures (GC) trading hours, CME Globex.
2. London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) — LBMA Gold Price methodology.
Related reading: Gold Trading Strategy: 4 Approaches Compared · Day Trading Gold: Instruments, Tools, and a Realistic Plan
