CME Group’s 1-Ounce Gold futures contract began trading around the clock on Thursday 24 July, under an amendment to its Globex trading hours. It is a small change to a small contract, and it is easy to miss β but it lowers the bar to holding a regulated, exchange-cleared gold position further than any listed contract has before.
What 1OZ actually is
The 1-Ounce Gold contract (Globex and ClearPort code 1OZ) is the smallest gold future COMEX lists. The sizing tells the story:
| Contract | Code | Size | Relative to 1OZ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold futures | GC | 100 troy oz | 100Γ |
| Micro Gold | MGC | 10 troy oz | 10Γ |
| 1-Ounce Gold | 1OZ | 1 troy oz | β |
One contract represents a single troy ounce of gold. The minimum price fluctuation is $0.25 per troy ounce, and because the contract covers one ounce, that tick is worth 25 cents.
Two design details matter more than the size. First, 1OZ is cash settled against the 100-ounce gold futures contract, so there is no physical delivery mechanism to manage and no first notice day to navigate β the settlement price is derived from the benchmark contract. Second, contracts are listed for February, April, June, August, October and December across a 24-month window, the same even-month cycle the larger gold contracts use.
What changed on 24 July
Only the hours. Under the CME clearing notice amending the contract, 1OZ moved from the standard Globex session to 24/7 availability β including weekends.
That puts it alongside CME’s other recent round-the-clock listings. Cryptocurrency futures and options moved to 24/7 on 29 May, and event contracts made the same move at the end of that month. CME has also said a new smaller-sized WTI crude oil contract is due to list on 30 August.
The practical effect is that a gold position in this contract is no longer bounded by the Sunday-open to Friday-close window. Gold’s largest moves have often arrived on geopolitical headlines that break outside market hours, and until now the exchange-traded response had to wait for the reopen.
Where it sits next to spot gold
Most retail gold exposure outside the US is taken through spot gold β XAU/USD β via a CFD or a similar over-the-counter product. The differences are structural rather than a matter of preference:
- Counterparty. A futures contract is novated to CME Clearing. A spot CFD is a contract with your broker, and your exposure is to that broker’s solvency and pricing.
- Pricing transparency. Futures trade on a central limit order book with published volume and a daily settlement. OTC spot pricing is set by the provider.
- Cost structure. Futures carry commission and exchange fees, with the cost of carry expressed in the difference between contract months. Spot CFDs typically embed cost in the spread and charge overnight swap.
- Access. Futures require an account with a broker licensed to execute futures trades, which is a higher barrier than opening a CFD account in most jurisdictions.
- Size. This is where 1OZ is genuinely new. A single standard gold future controls 100 ounces β well over $400,000 of gold at current prices. One 1OZ contract controls one ounce.
None of that makes one instrument better than the other. They are different products with different counterparty structures, cost models and regulatory treatment, and the right comparison depends entirely on where you trade and what you are trying to do.
The positioning backdrop
Speculative positioning in the benchmark gold contract has been drifting lower without breaking trend. In the CFTC’s Commitments of Traders report for the week ending 21 July, large speculators held a net long of 183,910 contracts, down 2,772 on the week β a fourth consecutive weekly reduction from the early-July peak, though still a substantial net long by historical standards. Open interest stood at 383,368.
That is positioning in GC, the 100-ounce contract, not in 1OZ. New listings take time to build the open interest that makes COT data meaningful, and the CFTC reports Micro Gold separately once a contract is large enough to warrant it.
You can track the full weekly breakdown on our gold COT page.
What to watch from here
The open question for any newly-listed or newly-extended contract is liquidity during the extended hours. A contract being open 24/7 and a contract being liquid 24/7 are not the same thing. Weekend and Asian-hours order books on newly extended contracts have historically been thinner than during the main session, which shows up as wider bid-ask spreads. Whether 1OZ attracts continuous participation or mostly trades in the established windows is something the volume and open interest data will answer over the coming months, not something anyone can assert today.
Contract details are sourced from CME Group’s published specifications and re-stated in our own words; confirm current specifications with your broker or the exchange before trading. CME Group, COMEX and Globex are trademarks of CME Group Inc. ForexBullion is not affiliated with or endorsed by CME Group. Positioning data is from the CFTC Commitments of Traders report. This article is descriptive market reporting and is not investment advice.
