Chicago – September 17, 2026 -- CME Group's 100-Ounce Silver futures traded 2,387 contracts during the first weekend of round-the-clock trading, representing over $15 million in notional value.
Silver follows gold's weekend trading breakthrough
The launch builds on CME's 24/7 trading in 1-Ounce Gold futures, which began July 24 and has since drawn more than 140,000 contracts in weekend sessions, equal to over $600 million in notional value. CME Group describes this as the largest liquidity pool for weekend trading in Gold futures.
Metals executive cites dual demand for investment and industrial exposure
Jin Hennig, Managing Director and Global Head of Metals at CME Group, said silver sits at the intersection of precious and industrial metals, and the strong weekend debut confirms that participants want continuous access to manage both investment positions and physical supply risk. He added that the response mirrors gold's uptake, reinforcing demand among retail clients for right-sized, always-on precious metals contracts.
Metals trading volumes hit record highs in first half of 2026
CME Group's metals business posted a record 1.3 million contracts traded daily in the first half of 2026, up 55% year-on-year, driven by precious metals activity. Average daily notional traded across silver futures reached a record $50 billion during the period.
100-Ounce Silver contract has scaled rapidly since February launch
The 100-Ounce Silver futures contract launched in February 2026 and averaged 17,800 contracts in daily volume during the first half of 2026, representing approximately $130 million in notional value. The contract is financially settled based on the daily settlement price of the benchmark COMEX 5,000-Ounce Silver futures contract and is listed under COMEX rules. Both the 1-Ounce Gold and 100-Ounce Silver contracts are CME Group's smallest precious metals products, designed to meet retail trading demand while retaining the monthly expiry structure of standard futures contracts.