On Feb. 25, 2026, trading in U.S. natural gas futures on CME Group’s Globex platform was halted for more than 30 minutes before markets were restored, the exchange and media reported. Metals contracts were also affected by the same technical interruption, marking the second major disruption in about a month in one of the world’s busiest commodity venues. CME said gas futures and options resumed trading after engineers addressed the technical issue; the exchange provided an update as markets moved to recover. Market participants and regulators are monitoring any knock-on effects on liquidity and price discovery.
Key Takeaways
- Trading halt occurred on Feb. 25, 2026; U.S. natural gas futures were paused for more than 30 minutes on the Globex electronic platform.
- Metals contracts were also impacted during the interruption, affecting multiple product lines on the same platform.
- CME Group confirmed that gas futures and options restarted trading after technical issues were addressed.
- This incident is the second major disruption in roughly a month in the heavily traded commodities market, raising questions about system resilience.
- Immediate market volatility was limited after the restart, but broader liquidity and order-routing effects remain under review.
- Regulators and major trading firms are expected to examine logs and contingency procedures to assess market impact.
Background
CME Group’s Globex platform handles a large share of electronic trading in commodities including natural gas and a range of metals futures and options. Globex is central to price discovery and risk transfer for energy and metals markets that trade around the clock. Because many market participants—hedgers, speculators and clearing members—rely on continuous electronic access, outages can interrupt order matching, risk management and margin processes across the trading ecosystem.
In the past month the market experienced another significant disruption on the same platform, making the Feb. 25 incident the second notable interruption in a short period. Exchanges typically operate redundant systems and outage protocols, but repeated events place pressure on both internal resilience programs and external perceptions of operational risk. Stakeholders such as clearinghouses, regulated firms and end-users watch for fixes that prevent recurrence.
Main Event
On the evening of Feb. 25, 2026 (UTC), participants saw executions stop for U.S. natural gas contracts on Globex; metals contracts registered similar interruptions. The pause lasted more than 30 minutes before CME reported that trading for gas futures and options had been restored. CME characterized the cause as a technical issue and indicated recovery steps were taken to resume normal operations.
During the outage many algorithmic and high-frequency trading systems would have automatically adjusted positions or paused activity pending reconnection. Brokers and clearing firms typically invoked contingency procedures to manage client exposure while the exchange worked on recovery. Public reporting noted the exchange issued a post-event statement confirming restart but did not immediately provide a full root-cause explanation.
Market prices briefly reflected uncertainty around execution availability and liquidity; once trading resumed, order books refilled and quoted spreads normalized for many contracts. Participants reported monitoring for stale prices and exercising caution on large new orders until books recovered. Exchange-level controls and surveillance teams were expected to review trade records to ensure orderly conditions and address any anomalies from the interruption.
Analysis & Implications
Operational interruptions at major exchanges raise systemic concerns because exchanges are central market utilities for clearing and settlement. A repeated outage within a short timeframe increases scrutiny of infrastructure investments, software change-management practices and third-party dependencies. Firms that depend on continuous electronic access—commodity producers, utilities, funds and proprietary traders—face potential execution risk and may seek contractual safeguards or alternative routing strategies.
Regulatory implications could follow if reviews find gaps in resilience or control frameworks. Market regulators typically request timelines of events, post-mortem analyses and remediation plans after significant outages. Depending on findings, regulators may press for enhanced reporting, testing requirements or specific technical upgrades to reduce recurrence risk and protect market integrity.
From a market-structure perspective, repeated disruptions can incentivize participants to diversify execution venues or expand use of voice trading and brokered facilities during outages. Clearing members and end-users may also reassess intra-day liquidity buffers and stress-test procedures to withstand temporary loss of primary electronic matching engines. The cost of additional redundancy or contingency resources may be weighed against the potential for execution losses during future events.
Comparison & Data
| Date | Market | Reported Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb. 25, 2026 | U.S. natural gas; metals (Globex) | >30 minutes | Restart confirmed by CME; technical issue cited |
| Earlier (in prior month) | Globex disruption (reported) | Major interruption (reported) | Second major disruption within ~1 month, per market reporting |
The table summarizes reporting on the Feb. 25 event and its relation to an earlier disruption in the same window. Exact durations and technical diagnostics for the prior incident vary by source; formal post-event reports from the exchange or regulators will provide definitive timelines and root-cause details.
Reactions & Quotes
“Trading in gas futures and options on Globex has restarted after an interruption due to technical issues,”
CME Group (official statement reported by Bloomberg)
The exchange’s announcement focused on restoration rather than a full technical diagnosis; participants await a deeper post-mortem. Exchange confirmations are the primary public record while internal incident logs and regulator inquiries proceed.
“This kind of interruption tests both dispersion of liquidity and participants’ contingency procedures,”
Market participant quoted in reporting
Market professionals emphasized that even short outages can lead to dislocated orders and stressed risk limits, prompting reviews of automated safeguards and manual fallback plans.
Unconfirmed
- Precise root cause of the Feb. 25 technical issue remains undisclosed by CME at the time of reporting.
- Whether the Feb. 25 disruption is directly linked to the earlier outage within the prior month has not been confirmed.
- Full scope of affected metals contracts (specific symbols and time-stamped order impacts) has not been publicly detailed.
- Any downstream client-level losses or forced liquidations tied solely to this interruption have not been independently verified.
Bottom Line
The Feb. 25, 2026 pause in U.S. natural gas and related metals trading on CME’s Globex—lasting more than 30 minutes—highlights operational vulnerabilities in a critical market utility. While trading was restored and immediate market disruption was contained, the recurrence of major interruptions within a roughly one-month window raises questions about systemic resilience and the need for transparent remediation.
Regulators, clearing members and market participants will likely press for a thorough exchange-led post-mortem and may demand greater evidence of robust failover practices. For traders and end-users, the event reinforces the importance of contingency planning, diversified execution pathways and proactive risk controls to navigate episodic infrastructure failures.