The World Federation of Exchanges is warning that 24/7 trading is not inevitable as major venues push toward extended hours, raising concerns about liquidity fragmentation and execution risk. CME Group traded nearly 15,000 gold futures contracts worth approximately $60 million during its first weekend session, while the London Stock Exchange plans LSE 24, a continuous digital trading venue. Multi-asset broker Vantage Markets launched weekend gold CFD trading in July and now offers speculative products tied to private-market valuations of OpenAI and Anthropic, underscoring infrastructure challenges around pricing transparency and reference data.
Macroeconomist Fu Peng says 24/7 markets depend on infrastructure supporting timely clearing and settlement, noting that blockchain and post-trade advances could enable continuous trading across equities, commodities and FX. However, thin weekend participation threatens wider spreads, limited quotes and sharp price swings, adding execution risk even as round-the-clock access reduces some event-driven gaps.
FXnCO Insight
Traders should prepare for wider spreads and volatile execution during off-peak hours as venues extend trading schedules without guaranteed liquidity depth.
Source: Finance Magnates