Last trading day (LTD)
The last trading day is the final session in which a futures contract can trade; after it, open positions are settled by delivery or cash. Each product defines it with its own rule, the third Friday of the contract month for CME equity index futures, but days before the delivery month for crude oil, natural gas or refined products.
Senzoukria · Glossary · Updated September 2026
Definition
A contract's specification states when trading terminates. Some products trade inside their delivery month and stop on a fixed weekday; others stop in the month before delivery, and a few two months before. Getting this wrong means charting or trading a contract that no longer exists, which on most feeds looks like a quiet market rather than an error.
Rules by product
The table reproduces the rules in Senzoukria's expiry engine, whose source quotes the exchange wording. Read the current contract specification before relying on a date; the engine ignores exchange holidays.
| Products | Rule |
|---|---|
| ES, MES, NQ, MNQ, RTY, M2K, YM, MYM | Third Friday of the contract month (trading terminates at 9:30 a.m. ET) |
| 6E, 6B, 6J, 6A, 6C, 6S, 6N, M6E, M6B | Second business day before the third Wednesday of the contract month |
| CL, MCL, QM | Three business days before the 25th of the month before delivery (25th moved back to a business day) |
| NG, MNG | Three business days before the first day of the delivery month |
| RB, HO | Last business day of the month before delivery |
| BZ | Last business day of the second month before delivery |
| ZC, ZS, ZW, ZL, ZM, ZO, ZR | Business day before the 15th of the contract month |
| LE / HE / GF | Last business day / 10th business day / last Thursday of the contract month |
| BTC, MBT, ETH, MET | Last Friday of the contract month |
Worked examples for 2026
- ESU6: the third Friday of September 2026 is 18 September. The application's default contract switches to December eight calendar days earlier, on 10 September, while ESU6 stays selectable with its expiry badge until it stops trading.
- CLQ6 (August crude): the 25th of July 2026 is a Saturday, so the anchor moves back to Friday 24 July, and three business days before that is Tuesday 21 July 2026.
In Senzoukria
The front month is the first listed month whose last trading day minus a roll buffer (8 days for third-Friday products, 4 elsewhere) is still ahead. During that buffer the expiring contract stays in the symbol picker with an 'exp DD/MM' badge and the tooltip 'Last trading day', and it drops out the day after that date. A saved symbol past its last trading day is replaced on open by the current front month of the same root. For Treasuries and metals the engine uses a first-notice roll instead of the official last trading day.
Common mistakes
- Assuming every product expires on a third Friday.
- Forgetting that crude oil stops trading in the month before its delivery month.
- Trusting a computed date around a holiday without checking the exchange calendar.
Related
- First notice day
- Final settlement price
- Quarterly expiry
- Contract specifications and expiry rules
- Symbol picker
In the same section
This page in other languages
Frequently asked questions
- When does the September ES contract expire?
- On the third Friday of September, when trading terminates at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time and the contract settles to the special opening quotation of the index. In 2026 that is Friday 18 September.
- Why did my crude oil chart go quiet in the middle of the month?
- Probably because the contract passed its last trading day. The August crude contract stops trading in July, three business days before the 25th, so a chart left on it receives no more trades.