Silver has no single opening bell. It trades between banks in London, on futures exchanges in New York and Shanghai, and on venues that never close, so the price on your screen at any hour comes from whichever of those markets is awake. Knowing which one it is tells you how much trading stands behind the number.
The time zones make that harder to follow than it should be. Each exchange publishes its hours in local time, the United States and the United Kingdom switch to and from daylight saving time on different Sundays, and weekends and holidays thin out trading everywhere at once.
Put every session into one time zone, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), and the pattern becomes simple. A short list of futures sessions, one daily benchmark auction and a few contracts that trade 24/7 cover the whole week, and the quiet hours and the busy ones line up in a way you can plan around.
You can trade silver on BloFin through the XAGUSDT Perpetual, a contract on XAG, the market code for silver, that BloFin lists for trading 24/7. When the main markets for the metal shut, it keeps trading, which makes their schedule worth knowing even if you never touch them.
What are silver's trading hours?
Silver's trading hours cover almost every weekday hour. COMEX's standard silver futures (SI) trade from 6PM ET on Sunday to 5PM ET on Friday, which is 11PM UTC to 10PM UTC in winter, with a one-hour break each day. London sets its benchmark price once a day, at 12PM UTC in winter, and a few contracts trade at weekends.
In winter, New York runs on Eastern Time (ET) at UTC−5 and London on Greenwich Mean Time, which equals UTC. In summer both cities move one hour forward, so the summer column applies from March. Here are the main venues in the three cities, plus the two contracts that trade at weekends, converted to UTC (source: CME Group, Silver futures contract specs, CME Group, 100-Ounce Silver futures contract specs, ICE, LBMA Silver Price, Shanghai Futures Exchange, trading hours, BloFin XAGUSDT listing notice).
Market | Local hours | UTC in winter (from November 1, 2026) | UTC in summer |
|---|---|---|---|
COMEX silver futures (SI) | 5PM CT Sunday to 4PM CT Friday, break 4PM to 5PM CT daily | 11PM Sunday to 10PM Friday, break 10PM to 11PM | 10PM Sunday to 9PM Friday, break 9PM to 10PM |
CME 100-Ounce Silver futures | 24/7, closed 2AM to 4AM CT Saturday and 4PM to 4.02PM CT weekdays | closed 8AM to 10AM Saturday and 10PM to 10.02PM weekdays | closed 7AM to 9AM Saturday and 9PM to 9.02PM weekdays |
LBMA Silver Price auction | 12PM London, London business days | 12PM | 11AM |
Shanghai silver futures (SHFE) | 9PM to 2.30AM, 9AM to 10.15AM, 10.30AM to 11.30AM, 1.30PM to 3PM Beijing time | 1PM to 6.30PM, 1AM to 2.15AM, 2.30AM to 3.30AM, 5.30AM to 7AM | 1PM to 6.30PM, 1AM to 2.15AM, 2.30AM to 3.30AM, 5.30AM to 7AM |
XAGUSDT Perpetual on BloFin | 24/7 | all hours | all hours |
The rest of the day fills in around those fixed points. London's bullion market trades directly between pairs of banks and dealers rather than on an exchange, and LBMA describes it as running 24 hours a day (source: LBMA, about loco London). Between Sunday evening in New York and Friday afternoon, some futures exchange is almost always open as well. The weekend is the real gap, and only a handful of contracts trade across it.
COMEX silver futures hours
COMEX's standard silver futures (SI) trade on CME Globex from 5PM CT on Sunday to 4PM CT on Friday, which is 11PM UTC to 10PM UTC in winter. A 60-minute break runs from 4PM to 5PM CT each day, which is 10PM to 11PM UTC in winter and 9PM to 10PM UTC in summer (source: CME Group, Silver futures contract specs).
CME publishes the same session in two time zones. Its page gives the same hours in New York time, 6PM to 5PM, with Chicago's Central Time (CT) one hour behind (source: CME Group, Silver futures contract specs). Both cities switch to and from daylight saving time on the same day, so the gap between ET and CT never moves, while the gap to UTC changes by an hour twice a year.
Each SI contract is sized at 5,000 troy ounces (source: CME Group, Silver futures contract specs).
The Friday close matters more than any other hour. From 10PM UTC on Friday in winter, the main contract does not trade again until 11PM UTC on Sunday, a pause of 49 hours. Any news that breaks in between reaches COMEX's price only when Globex reopens on Sunday evening in New York (source: CME Group, Silver futures contract specs).
CME's 100-ounce silver contract at weekends
CME's 100-Ounce Silver futures trade 24/7, apart from two maintenance windows. The first runs from 2AM to 4AM CT on Saturday, which is 8AM to 10AM UTC in winter. The second is two minutes from 4PM to 4.02PM CT on weekdays, which is 10PM to 10.02PM UTC in winter (source: CME Group, 100-Ounce Silver futures contract specs).
CME added the 100-ounce contract in February 2026 for retail traders and opened it to 24/7 trading on September 11, 2026 (source: CME Group release via Mondo Visione, August 11, 2026, CME Group release via Mondo Visione, September 14, 2026). On the first weekend, 2,387 contracts changed hands, worth more than $15 million (source: Kitco, September 14, 2026, CME Group release via Mondo Visione, September 14, 2026). Each contract covers 100 troy ounces, and it is financially settled, so a holder at expiry receives cash and no metal (source: CME Group, 100-Ounce Silver futures contract specs).
That makes a Saturday different from a few years ago. A regulated US futures contract now prices silver at weekends, alongside crypto perpetuals such as the XAGUSDT Perpetual. The main 5,000-ounce contract and the London auction still stop, though, so the silver markets with the deepest liquidity are shut while weekend prices are made.
The LBMA Silver Price auction in London
The LBMA Silver Price is set once each London business day in an electronic auction that starts at 12PM London time, which is 12PM UTC in winter and 11AM UTC under British Summer Time. ICE Benchmark Administration runs the auction for unallocated silver held in London, priced in US dollars (source: ICE, LBMA Silver Price).
The final auction price is published as the benchmark, and producers, refiners, banks and investors use it as a reference price (source: ICE, LBMA Silver Price). There is one price a day. A move in the New York afternoon reaches the benchmark only at the next day's auction.
The auction is the one moment each day when London's direct dealing between banks becomes a single published price. On a UK bank holiday no auction is held, and ICE publishes each year's list of those days in a holiday calendar (source: ICE, LBMA Silver Price holiday calendar 2026).
Shanghai silver futures sessions
The Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) trades silver in a night session from 9PM to 2.30AM Beijing time (1PM to 6.30PM UTC) and in a day session from 9AM to 3PM (1AM to 7AM UTC), with two breaks (source: Shanghai Futures Exchange, trading hours). China keeps UTC+8 all year, with no daylight saving since 1991, so those UTC times hold in every season (source: IANA Time Zone Database, asia).
SHFE counts a night session as part of the next trading day, so trades made at 9PM on a Monday in Shanghai (1PM UTC) belong to Tuesday's session (source: Shanghai Futures Exchange, trading hours). That matters when you compare one day's Shanghai price with a London or New York close, because the two days do not start at the same moment.
The day session's breaks, from 10.15AM to 10.30AM and from 11.30AM to 1.30PM Beijing time, fall at 2.15AM to 2.30AM and 3.30AM to 5.30AM UTC (source: Shanghai Futures Exchange, trading hours). Its hours from 1AM to 7AM UTC are the quiet early hours in London and the middle of the night in New York. The night session covers the same afternoon hours in which London and New York both trade, so for part of a normal weekday the markets in all three cities are open at once.
The London-New York overlap
The London-New York overlap is the part of the weekday when traders in both cities are at their desks. On the common forex convention, it runs from 1PM to 5PM UTC in winter and from 12PM to 4PM UTC in summer (source: InvestingCube, forex session times).
The convention gives London's trading day as 8AM to 5PM local time (8AM to 5PM UTC in winter) and New York's as 8AM to 5PM ET, which is 1PM to 10PM UTC in winter (source: InvestingCube, forex session times). In winter the whole window also falls inside Shanghai's night session, which opens at 1PM UTC. In summer Shanghai joins an hour after the overlap starts (source: Shanghai Futures Exchange, trading hours).
BloFin's own four-hour candles show the same pattern on the XAGUSDT Perpetual. On weekdays from March 9 to October 30, 2026, while New York was on summer time, the four-hour bar from 12PM to 4PM UTC covered most of the overlap. That bar carried 31.8% of the contract's weekday trading volume. Across all weekdays since January 13 it also had the largest average move in either direction, 1.38% from open to close, while the bar from 8PM to 12AM UTC averaged 0.61% (source: BloFin XAGUSDT Perpetual four-hour candles).
Since New York left summer time, the overlap has straddled two of those bars. In the five full weekdays from November 2 to November 6, the bars starting at 12PM and 4PM UTC carried 33.0% of weekday volume between them. The same two bars had carried 47.2% from March 9 to October 30. The busiest single bar in those five days was the one starting at 12AM UTC, at 28.3% (source: BloFin XAGUSDT Perpetual four-hour candles).
How daylight saving shifts silver's hours
Daylight saving moves every New York and London session by one hour in UTC, twice a year. In 2026 the UK left summer time on October 25 and the US on November 1, so for one week London was on winter time while New York was still on summer time (source: GOV.UK, when the clocks change, NIST, daylight saving time).
During that week, New York's 8AM was 12PM UTC and London's 5PM was 5PM UTC, so the overlap ran five hours instead of four. The same mismatch comes back in spring, and for longer. The US moves to summer time on the second Sunday in March and the UK on the last Sunday. In 2027 those dates are March 14 and March 28, two weeks in which the overlap again runs from 12PM to 5PM UTC (source: NIST, daylight saving time, GOV.UK).
COMEX's hours shift with New York. From March 14, 2027, Globex will open at 10PM UTC on Sunday, and its daily break will start at 9PM UTC. The LBMA auction moves to 11AM UTC once British Summer Time starts on March 28. Shanghai's sessions keep the same UTC times through both changes (source: CME Group, Silver futures contract specs, NIST, daylight saving time, GOV.UK, IANA Time Zone Database, asia).
BloFin's funding rate settlements stay fixed in UTC: all 1,833 on the XAGUSDT Perpetual from January 8 to November 9, 2026 fell at 12AM, 4AM, 8AM, 12PM, 4PM or 8PM UTC (source: BloFin XAGUSDT Perpetual funding history).
XAGUSDT Perpetual trading hours on BloFin
The XAGUSDT Perpetual trades 24/7 on BloFin, weekends included, according to the contract's listing notice. BloFin listed it at 6AM UTC on January 8, 2026, as a USDT-margined perpetual on silver, and the notice gives its trading hours as 24/7 (source: BloFin XAGUSDT listing notice).
The contract size is 0.01 XAG, so 100 contracts make up one troy ounce (source: BloFin XAGUSDT listing notice). As a perpetual contract on silver, it has no expiry date and so no last trading day. The COMEX contracts each stop trading on a set date (source: CME Group, Silver futures contract specs, CME Group, 100-Ounce Silver futures contract specs).
The same notice explains what happens to the contract's price when the markets behind it go quiet. BloFin's price index uses quotes from third-party data vendors, and if external data runs dry, the index holds its latest calculated level (source: BloFin XAGUSDT listing notice). The mark price, which BloFin uses for liquidation, combines that index with other inputs.
Outside the primary market's regular hours, the notice warns of limited price movement and thin liquidity, and it says BloFin "may" restrict new orders to reduce-only ones, which close positions (source: BloFin XAGUSDT listing notice). Reduce-only orders can only shrink a position you hold or close it out, so they cannot open a fresh position or add to one.
With less trading behind the price, a market order can fill at a worse level than the quote on screen, which is slippage in crypto trading. A limit order fixes your price in advance: a buy fills at that price or lower, and a sell at that price or higher.
The notice does not tie those limits to a set schedule, so the practical step is to check the XAGUSDT Perpetual trading page before you hold through a weekend or a holiday. On that page, the order panel offers a Reduce-only setting. Closing a position before a quiet period removes the risk of a reduce-only limit or a thin-market fill, and the steps for closing a trade on BloFin are the same at any hour.
What the XAGUSDT Perpetual does at weekends
The XAGUSDT Perpetual keeps trading at weekends, but its price barely moves. Across 43 weekends from January 17 to November 7, 2026, its last price moved a median 0.40% between 12AM UTC on Saturday and 8PM UTC on Sunday. Over the 44 hours from 12AM UTC on Tuesday to 8PM UTC on Wednesday, it moved a median 2.98% (source: BloFin XAGUSDT Perpetual four-hour candles).
The weekend window sits entirely inside the time the main COMEX contract is shut, in summer and in winter. Only 2 of the 43 weekends moved 2% or more, and the largest move was a fall of 2.58% over the weekend starting January 24. The weekday windows moved 2% or more in 28 of 42 weeks. Over the latest 13 weekends, from August 15 to November 7, the difference was similar: a median 0.25% at weekends against 1.70% on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (source: BloFin XAGUSDT Perpetual four-hour candles).
The price starts moving again around the time COMEX reopens. The four-hour bar starting at 8PM UTC on Sunday contains the Globex reopen, at 10PM UTC in summer and 11PM UTC in winter. On average it moved 1.12% from open to close, in either direction, against an average of 0.12% for the other weekend bars. Over the eight hours to 4AM UTC on Monday, the median move was 1.05%, close to the median 0.94% for the same eight hours on Monday to Thursday nights (source: BloFin XAGUSDT Perpetual four-hour candles).
The biggest Sunday-night move in BloFin's candles shows the pattern at its sharpest. Over the weekend of January 31 and February 1, 2026, the XAGUSDT Perpetual's last price drifted from 86.02 USDT to 84.99 USDT, down 1.20%. Then, in the eight hours from 8PM UTC on Sunday, February 1, it fell from 84.87 USDT to 77.52 USDT, a drop of 8.66%. The next-largest Sunday-night moves went the other way: up 6.51% from January 25 and up 3.83% from February 8 (source: BloFin XAGUSDT Perpetual four-hour candles).
A position held from Friday to Monday therefore takes most of its weekend price risk on Sunday night. With high leverage, a Sunday-night move like February 1's can reach the liquidation price of a position within those eight hours. As a rough estimate, a 20x position puts up margin worth only 5% of its size, which is less than an 8.66% move. The real level is different, because BloFin works out liquidation on the mark price, a separate figure from the last price, and the margin mode you choose and any margin you add both move it. Before holding over a weekend, read the estimated Liq. Price that the order panel shows for your position.
Most weekends look nothing like February 1. Over the weekend starting October 31, the last price edged from 49.40 USDT to 49.59 USDT, then rose 1.07% in the eight hours after 8PM UTC on Sunday. The same weekend question arises in 24/7 gold trading and COMEX hours, where a contract that never closes and an exchange that does also sit side by side.
US holidays and the Thanksgiving schedule
US holidays close or shorten the COMEX session, and CME publishes the changed hours for each one on its holiday calendar. On Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26, 2026, CME's metals calendar shows a pre-open at 1.30PM CT (7.30PM UTC). Trading then reopens at 5PM CT (11PM UTC) for the Friday, November 27 trade date (source: CME Group, holiday and trading hours). The page says its hours are subject to change, so read it again in the week itself.
The US stock market follows its own list. NYSE closes for ten weekday holidays in 2026, Thanksgiving on November 26 among them, and closes early at 1PM ET (6PM UTC) on November 27 and on December 24 (source: NYSE, holidays and trading hours). Thanksgiving is not on ICE's 2026 list of days without a London silver auction, so the auction runs as usual on November 26 (source: ICE, LBMA Silver Price holiday calendar 2026).
Looking to trade silver? To get started, you'll need to first create a BloFin account, fund your account with cryptocurrency, and navigate to the XAGUSDT Perpetual trading page.
Frequently asked questions
Is silver trading 24/7?
Part of the market is. The XAGUSDT Perpetual trades 24/7, and CME's 100-Ounce Silver futures trade 24/7 apart from a two-hour maintenance window early on Saturday and two minutes on weekdays. The main 5,000-ounce COMEX contract and the LBMA silver auction keep fixed weekday hours (source: CME Group, 100-Ounce Silver futures contract specs).
How long is COMEX silver open each week?
COMEX's standard silver futures (SI) are open for 115 of the week's 168 hours, about 68.5% of the time. The session runs 119 hours from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon, less four one-hour daily breaks from Monday to Thursday, which leaves 53 hours closed. CME's 100-ounce contract is closed for 130 minutes a week in all (source: CME Group, Silver futures contract specs, CME Group, 100-Ounce Silver futures contract specs).
Is there an LBMA silver price on UK bank holidays?
ICE holds no LBMA silver auction on UK bank holidays. In the rest of 2026 that leaves two days without one: Christmas Day on Friday, December 25, and the Boxing Day holiday on Monday, December 28. A silver trade settles two London business days after it is agreed. If that date lands on a UK or US holiday, settlement moves to the next date that is a business day in the UK and the US alike (source: ICE, LBMA Silver Price holiday calendar 2026).
What time is the LBMA silver auction in New York?
The LBMA silver auction starts at 7AM ET for most of the year: 12PM UTC in winter and 11AM UTC in summer. In the weeks when only the US is on summer time, such as March 14 to March 27, 2027, it starts at 8AM ET (12PM UTC). COMEX is already trading by then. In Shanghai it is 8PM Beijing time in winter (12PM UTC) and 7PM in summer (11AM UTC), before the night session opens at 9PM Beijing time (1PM UTC) (source: ICE, LBMA Silver Price, NIST, daylight saving time, GOV.UK, Shanghai Futures Exchange, trading hours, IANA Time Zone Database, asia).
Does the XAGUSDT Perpetual trade on US holidays?
The XAGUSDT Perpetual traded on all seven weekday NYSE holidays between its listing and November 2026. Volume ranged from 15.5% of a median weekday on Good Friday, April 3, when the day's range was 0.15%, to 111.5% on Washington's Birthday, February 16 (source: BloFin XAGUSDT Perpetual daily candles).
How much silver trades on BloFin at weekends?
A median weekend day on the XAGUSDT Perpetual traded 10,358 XAG, which is 22.4% of the 46,246 XAG traded on a median weekday, from January 8 to November 8, 2026. Over the latest 13 weeks, from August 10, the weekend share was 21.6%. One XAG is one troy ounce, so a median weekend day traded about 1,035,800 contracts of 0.01 XAG (source: BloFin XAGUSDT Perpetual daily candles).
Researched and written by the BloFin Academy editorial team with AI-assisted drafting. All facts independently verified. Primary sources include CME Group's silver contract specifications, holiday hours and press releases, ICE's LBMA Silver Price pages, the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the IANA Time Zone Database, NYSE, GOV.UK, NIST and BloFin's XAGUSDT Perpetual listing notice, candles and funding history, current as of November 10, 2026.
Nothing in this article constitutes financial advice. The XAGUSDT Perpetual trades at weekends and on holidays while the main silver markets are shut, and the price can move sharply when they reopen, as it did by 8.66% in eight hours on the night of February 1, 2026. A leveraged position can be liquidated in that kind of move before you can act, and BloFin may limit orders to reduce-only outside the main market's hours. Past performance does not indicate future results. Do your own research and consider your risk tolerance before you trade on BloFin.