On Feb. 25, 2026, CME Group halted trading in CME Globex metals and natural gas futures and options because of technical issues, according to Reuters and Bloomberg. Bloomberg later reported that trading restarted after the interruption, and that U.S. natural gas futures had been paused for more than half an hour.

For active traders, this is not a niche operational story. It is a direct reminder that market risk is only one part of the game. Execution risk also matters, especially in instruments where liquidity can vanish quickly, spreads can gap, and positions can become difficult to adjust in real time.

TL;DR

  • CME Group halted Globex metals and natural gas futures and options on Feb. 25 due to technical issues, based on reporting from Reuters and Bloomberg.
  • Bloomberg reported trading later restarted, with U.S. natural gas futures paused for more than 30 minutes.
  • When exchange access is interrupted, traders face execution risk: delayed exits, slippage on restart, and weaker control over position-level risk.
  • The practical takeaway is to treat operational disruption as a core scenario in futures risk planning, not a tail event.

What happened on CME

Reuters reported that CME Group said trading in its CME Globex metals and natural gas futures and options markets was halted due to technical issues. Bloomberg separately reported that the contracts later restarted and described the interruption in U.S. natural gas futures as lasting more than half an hour.

These are straightforward, high-confidence facts confirmed by two independent, reputable financial news outlets. The root cause details were limited at the time of reporting, which means traders should avoid over-claiming on causality until official post-incident disclosures are available.

Why this matters beyond metals and gas

Execution risk is often mispriced by discretionary traders

Most trading plans are built around direction, volatility, and macro catalysts. Fewer plans explicitly model venue interruption. Yet an exchange-level halt can instantly change the distribution of outcomes. Stops may not execute at expected levels during the disruption window, hedges may be unavailable, and restart conditions can produce sharp repricing.

Liquidity quality can degrade when trading resumes

Even after restart, order books may not normalize immediately. In practice, traders can see wider spreads, uneven depth, and short bursts of one-sided flow as participants rebalance exposure. This can increase realized slippage and make normal sizing rules too aggressive for the first phase after reopening.

Cross-market knock-on effects are real

Natural gas and metals contracts are frequently linked to broader macro and commodity books. When a major venue pauses trading in key contracts, correlated instruments and related equities can reprice as participants seek alternate hedges or reduce gross risk. The immediate effect may be strongest in directly impacted contracts, but secondary effects can spill into wider futures portfolios.

A practical risk framework for futures traders

1) Separate market risk from market access risk

A strong directional thesis does not protect a trader from access disruption. Build explicit checklists for what to do if primary execution routes are interrupted. That includes broker failover procedures, acceptable emergency size reductions, and predefined thresholds for de-risking once markets reopen.

2) Define restart protocol before the next outage

Many losses occur in the first minutes after trading resumes, when traders react emotionally to gaps and unstable liquidity. A restart protocol should include temporary size caps, stricter slippage limits, and a short waiting period before re-entering full-risk discretionary trades.

3) Track concentration by venue and contract family

If too much exposure is clustered in one venue or contract group, a single technical issue can force decisions under poor conditions. Concentration reviews should be routine for both discretionary and systematic traders, especially in products with known event-driven volatility.

4) Keep communication and logs disciplined

During disruptions, timestamps and decision logs matter. They improve post-trade review quality and help distinguish process errors from unavoidable market conditions. This is critical for improving response quality in the next incident.

What traders should watch next

  • Official CME follow-up: Any additional detail on cause, safeguards, and remediation timelines.
  • Liquidity behavior in subsequent sessions: Whether spreads and depth in affected contracts normalize quickly or remain fragile.
  • Volatility in related contracts: Signs that hedging demand is shifting into substitute instruments.
  • Broker and platform incident reporting: Confirmation of routing stability and any residual execution constraints.
  • Internal process adherence: Whether your own outage and restart playbook worked under live conditions.

Source context

  • Reuters (Feb. 25, 2026): CME Group said trading in CME Globex metals and natural gas futures and options was halted due to technical issues.
  • Bloomberg (Feb. 25, 2026): Reported trading later restarted and said U.S. natural gas futures were halted for more than half an hour.

Not financial advice. This article is for educational purposes only.

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