A data center failure disrupted futures and options trading at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) for several hours, impacting equities, forex, bonds, and commodity markets.
The outage exceeded the duration of a 2019 technical glitch that also caused hours-long suspensions, underscoring the market influence of CME Group and its Globex electronic trading platform. The disruption sparked widespread frustration as participants feared entire trading sessions might be invalidated.
"It's like flying blind," said Thomas Helaine, head of equity sales at TP ICAP Europe. "For cash equity traders like us, U.S. futures provide crucial pre-market signals. I can't imagine the chaos in derivatives desks right now."
For some traders, the timing compounded difficulties—Friday’s halt coincided with the need to roll positions from expiring monthly contracts to the next cycle.
"Traders holding positions must be furious," noted Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, head of trading and hedging strategy at Kaleesuwari Intercontinental.
With liquidity and price transparency evaporating, trading volumes shifted to functioning platforms. The outage affected contracts including U.S. Treasuries, S&P 500 futures, WTI crude oil, gasoline, and palm oil futures traded via CME on Bursa Malaysia. The last WTI trade occurred at 10:47 a.m. Singapore time.
"Traders will pivot to alternative liquidity tools where possible," said Nick Twidale, chief analyst at AT Global Markets in Sydney. "Losing a primary liquidity source heightens risks of extreme volatility during major events."
The outage struck as U.S. markets reopened post-Thanksgiving holiday with shortened hours. European equity futures opened flat. Traders caught a break with no scheduled U.S. economic data or Fed speeches ahead of the December policy meeting blackout period.
CME, one of the world’s largest derivatives exchanges, handles millions of daily contracts for S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq 100 futures. A spokesperson attributed the halt to cooling system issues at a CyrusOne data center in Dallas but provided no restoration timeline.
"Technical teams are working urgently to resolve this. Clients will be notified once pre-open procedures are confirmed," the spokesperson said. CyrusOne didn’t immediately respond to inquiries.
CME Group operates the Chicago Board of Trade, NYMEX, and COMEX, and holds stakes in other exchanges like the Gulf Mercantile Exchange, which also suspended trading due to cooling system failures.
November saw heightened market volatility as S&P 500 dropped 4.7% amid Fed rate-cut uncertainty and AI stock valuation concerns. The index has since recovered, with volatility nearing October lows by month-end.