FOREX.com Opens Weekend Trading on US S&P 500 and Tech 100 Index CFDs

FOREX.com has widened its trading week, launching two new contracts for difference (CFDs) that track major US equity indices through Saturday and Sunday. According to executive-bulletin.com, the broker, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nasdaq-listed StoneX Group Inc. (ticker SNEX), unveiled US SP 500 7 Day and US Tech 100 7 Day in an announcement dated 19 October 2026.

The move matters for Australian retail traders because it extends access to the world's largest equity market into hours when US cash markets are shut, a window that falls largely over the local weekend.

Contents

01

What the two new markets cover

02

Why a weekend window appeals to brokers and traders

03

Building on gold and share CFDs

04

What beginners should weigh before trading off-hours

What the two new markets cover

The two products are standalone CFD markets on the FOREX.com platform, separate from the broker's existing index CFDs. US SP 500 7 Day offers weekend exposure to movements linked to the broad US large-cap equity market, while US Tech 100 7 Day tracks the technology-focused segment of the US market.

For beginners, a CFD is a leveraged contract that pays out based on the movement of an underlying asset without the trader owning it. Leverage magnifies both gains and losses, and holding costs can apply.

Trading in the new markets begins at 08:00 UTC on Saturday and runs across the weekend, with a one-hour pause between 21:00 and 22:00 UTC on Sunday before weekday pricing resumes. In Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10), that Saturday open is 6pm AEST, and the Sunday pause runs from 7am to 8am AEST on Monday. During daylight saving, when AEDT (UTC+11) applies, those times shift one hour later.

Why a weekend window appeals to brokers and traders

FOREX.com frames the launch around events that can move whole markets rather than single companies. Unexpected economic data, geopolitical developments, policy decisions and shifts in market sentiment may influence entire sectors or the wider equity market at once, and the new contracts let traders take a broader market view when such developments emerge outside the conventional trading week.

Razan Hilal, a market analyst and Chartered Market Technician (CMT) at FOREX.com, said weekend developments may change the outlook for the broader equity market before regular US cash equity trading resumes. She cited a geopolitical escalation, an unexpected policy signal or a shift in expectations around growth and inflation as examples that may quickly alter sentiment across major US indices.

Hilal added that indices are often where broader macroeconomic expectations are expressed most clearly, allowing traders to take a view on market direction rather than isolate exposure to a single company. That distinction, she said, becomes particularly relevant when the catalyst is geopolitical, economic or policy-driven rather than corporate.

The broker says the new markets give clients greater choice over how they manage market exposure across the week.

Building on gold and share CFDs

The index launch follows FOREX.com's expansion of extended-hours trading earlier in 2026, when it introduced XAU/USD 7-Day weekend gold trading and broadened its 24/5 US share CFD offering to more than 100 US-listed companies. The addition of major US indices extends that access from individual securities and precious metals to broader equity-market exposure.

The company describes itself as providing access to more than 6,500 tradable markets. FOREX.com is a trading name of GAIN Global Markets Inc., which is authorised and regulated by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority under the Securities Investment Business Law of the Cayman Islands (as revised), licence number 25033, with its principal place of business in Warren, New Jersey.

Its parent, StoneX Group Inc., describes itself as a Fortune 100 company with a nearly 100-year track record, serving more than 50,000 commercial, institutional and payments clients and more than 370,000 retail accounts from nearly 80 offices across six continents.

What beginners should weigh before trading off-hours

Extended hours cut both ways. When the underlying cash market is closed, there is no live exchange price for the index itself, so quotes on weekend CFDs are set by the broker and can behave differently from weekday pricing. Liquidity may be thinner and spreads wider than during regular US hours, and prices can gap when the market reopens, meaning a position may be filled at a level well away from where it was last quoted.

The launch sits within a broader push by retail platforms to stretch trading beyond conventional sessions. Separately, Moomoo announced extended trading hours for US-listed options in partnership with Cboe, covering options on 25 stocks and five ETFs, with a premarket session from 7:30 to 9:25am ET and an after-hours session from 4:00 to 4:15pm ET. Rob Hocking, Cboe Global Markets' global head of derivatives, said global investors are increasingly seeking access to US markets and the ability to manage risk and act on opportunities when they see fit.

Moomoo pairs those sessions with educational tools, including an options strategy builder for scenario analysis and payoff visualisations before trading. Neil McDonald, chief executive of Moomoo US, said markets do not wait for the opening bell and an investor's ability to manage risk should not depend entirely on it.

For Australian readers, the practical takeaway is that a longer trading week does not remove the need to understand leverage, spreads and gap risk. The new FOREX.com contracts are leveraged products, and losses can exceed the amount a trader expects to risk if positions are not managed carefully.

Finally, WikiFX would like to remind everyone that before using any US stock, futures, or forex brokers, remember to check the platform's regulatory information, trading environment, field inspection reports, user reviews, and overall rating on the WikiFX App. This will help you effectively avoid problematic scam platforms and rogue brokers, safeguarding your capital.