CME Halts FX, Commodities, and Futures Trading Following Data Center Cooling Issue
On Friday, November 28, 2025, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) experienced a significant pause in trading across multiple platforms due to a cooling system failure at one of its data centers. This unexpected disruption impacted futures and options trading globally, affecting markets in foreign exchange, commodities, and more.
Cooling Issue at CyrusOne Data Center Causes Trading Interruptions
The incident originated at CyrusOne’s CHI1 data center located in the Chicago area, which hosts CME’s crucial trading infrastructure. CyrusOne, based in Dallas, Texas, reported a chiller plant failure that affected multiple cooling units, impairing the center’s ability to maintain optimal operating temperatures.
In an official statement, CyrusOne explained, “On November 27, our CHI1 facility experienced a chiller plant failure affecting multiple cooling units. Our engineering teams, along with specialized mechanical contractors, are on-site working to restore full cooling capacity. We have successfully restarted several chillers at limited capacity and have deployed temporary cooling equipment to supplement our permanent systems.”
The company reassured stakeholders that it was actively communicating with all impacted customers and working around the clock to restore normal operations safely and quickly.
Trading Impact and Gradual Resumption
The disruption led to a halt on the Globex futures and options markets, as well as foreign exchange platforms including EBS and BMD markets. Trading on these platforms was suspended as CME prioritized stability and safety. EBS markets resumed trading at 7 a.m. ET on Friday, about 90 minutes after the subsidiary BrokerTec EU markets restarted. Stock futures and options trading resumed fully by 8:30 a.m. ET.
A CME Group spokesperson confirmed in an emailed statement, “All CME Group markets are open and trading.” According to FactSet data, bonds and metals trading also restarted following the brief pause. It was noted, however, that while individual stocks were still trading during premarket hours, the outage could initially delay moves in some impacted contracts even after trading resumed.
Market Reaction and Context
Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth, commented on the timing of the incident, highlighting that it was "fortunate the outage had come on one of the slowest trading days of the year in the U.S., just after Thanksgiving." He noted that the gradual restoration of operations was encouraging and that the incident "could have been much worse."
Futures trader Emir Syazwan of Ninefold Trading Co., based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, described the impact on global trading sentiment. He noted that traders in Asian and European sessions were more directly affected due to the timing of the outage. Syazwan observed that market activity had remained relatively flat with tight trading ranges since November 26, ahead of the disruption, and suggested that such conditions might persist until the issue is fully resolved.
While Syazwan confirmed his trades were unaffected, he acknowledged the inconvenience caused by the outage and reflected on the potential for such events to "materially alter market structure or price discovery" if prolonged.
Background on CME Trading Interruptions
This is not the first time CME has experienced a trading halt due to technical challenges. For example, in 2014, technical problems with the Globex electronic trading system disrupted agricultural contract trading. Similarly, in 2024, Switzerland’s SIX exchange temporarily halted trading when it encountered data dissemination issues affecting equities, bonds, and ETFs.
CME’s Broad Market Role
CME Group is the world’s largest and most diverse derivatives exchange operator, handling futures and options contracts across numerous asset classes, including agricultural commodities, energy products, metals, financial instruments, and equities. The smooth operation of its electronic trading platforms is critical to global financial markets.
Outlook
While the data center cooling issue presented a significant but temporary disruption, CME’s quick response and ongoing restoration efforts have allowed markets to resume normal operations. Market participants and industry watchers remain attentive to further updates to ensure stability and prevent lasting market distortions.
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