Geopolitical uncertainty does not stop the flow of weekends, and futures for gold and oil will also be available for trading as CME prepares to launch a round-the-clock trading mode.

The world's largest derivatives exchange announced on Thursday evening the introduction of new, smaller oil futures contracts, which will be available for weekend trading, alongside the relatively new one-ounce gold contract.

The introduction of continuous trading comes amid significant volatility in both the gold and oil markets at the start of Asian trading on Sunday. This provides traders with a unique opportunity to respond quickly to events and news that may occur over the weekend. In particular, uncertainty in peace agreements regarding the Iranian conflict could create significant volatility at the market open.

While futures markets are closed from Friday evening to Sunday evening, some traders turn to cryptocurrency markets or use gold-backed tokens to hedge market risks over the weekend.

"In a context of geopolitical instability, traders are increasingly seeking to diversify their portfolios in the commodity markets," said Derek Sammann, senior managing director and head of commodity markets at CME Group. "Our new WTI oil and gold futures provide regulated instruments of optimal size available for 24/7 trading, allowing traders to manage their risks whenever fresh news breaks."

The new, smaller WTI oil futures will be ten times smaller than CME Group's existing micro WTI oil futures. The exchange added that the 10-barrel WTI contract will be cash-settled.

In January 2025, CME launched its one-ounce gold futures contract, designed for retail traders because of its smaller contract size. The exchange noted that this year has seen high activity in its smallest gold contract, with an average daily volume of about 90,000 contracts.

The one-ounce contract will also be cash-settled.

Trading in gold futures will start on weekends on July 26, while trading in oil futures will commence around the clock on August 30.