COMEX Gold Futures Explained
COMEX gold futures (ticker GC=F) are the most widely traded gold derivatives in the world and the standard reference for U.S. dollar gold prices. They are listed on COMEX, a subsidiary of CME Group based in New York. A single contract represents 100 troy ounces of gold for delivery in a specified future month.
What COMEX is
COMEX, originally the Commodity Exchange Inc., was founded in 1933 through the merger of four smaller New York commodity exchanges. It became part of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) in 1994, which in turn was acquired by CME Group in 2008.1 Today COMEX is the precious-metals arm of CME Group, listing futures and options on gold, silver, copper, aluminum, and several minor metals.
How a gold futures contract works
The standard COMEX gold futures contract represents 100 troy ounces of refined gold, which works out to 3,110.35 grams.2 The gold must be at least 99.5 percent pure and delivered either as a single 100-ounce bar or as three 1-kilogram bars. The minimum price movement is ten cents per troy ounce, equal to $10 per contract.
At any given time, COMEX lists up to 72 consecutive monthly contracts. The most actively traded expirations are February, April, June, August, October, and December. Contracts settle by physical delivery, though most holders close out their positions before expiration rather than take delivery.
Most volume concentrates in the front-month contract, which is the nearest active expiration. Each day, the closing settlement price of the front month is what financial media and data providers report as the gold price.
Trading hours
COMEX gold futures trade nearly 24 hours per day, five days per week, on the CME Globex electronic platform.3
The trading week opens on Sunday at 6:00 PM ET. From Monday through Thursday the market trades continuously, with a single 60-minute daily reset from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET. The reset is a maintenance window for the venue's clearing and risk processes, not a market closure. Friday at 5:00 PM ET closes the week, and the market stays dark through the weekend until Sunday evening.
When you see a daily reset or session resumes at 6:00 PM ET message on a gold price tracker, this is the gap being described.
Why GC=F is the global reference
There are several venues where gold trades, including the over-the-counter London spot market run through the LBMA. COMEX is the dominant venue for price discovery because of its size, transparency, and trading hours.
COMEX gold futures volume averages over 200,000 contracts per day, representing more than 20 million troy ounces. That is the largest concentrated pool of gold price discovery in the world. Every trade is timestamped, cleared, and publicly reported, while spot prices in London are derived from over-the-counter dealer quotes that are not as easily verified. And the 23-hour electronic session means the COMEX price moves continuously through the global trading day.
This is why most news outlets, financial data terminals, and price-tracker websites (including checkgold.net) use the COMEX front-month future as the headline gold price.
Futures versus spot
The COMEX futures price is not exactly the same as the London spot price. The futures price equals spot plus the cost of carry, which includes interest rates, storage, and insurance for holding gold from now until the contract expires. For the front-month contract this basis is usually small, on the order of a few dollars per ounce, and the two prices track each other very closely. For deferred contracts the basis grows.
Most price-tracker sites quote the front-month future and label it spot because for most purposes the distinction does not matter. Precision-focused users should be aware that COMEX is futures, not true spot.
Common questions
What does GC=F mean?
GC is the COMEX ticker symbol for gold futures. The =F suffix is a Yahoo Finance convention that identifies the front-month future. So GC=F refers to whichever COMEX gold futures contract is currently the nearest active expiration.
How big is one gold futures contract?
One COMEX gold futures contract represents 100 troy ounces of gold. At a price of $4,500 per ounce, one contract carries roughly $450,000 in notional value.
Can you buy physical gold through COMEX?
Yes, but most participants do not. Less than one percent of contracts go to physical delivery. Investors who want physical gold typically buy bullion or coins from a dealer. COMEX is primarily used by miners, refiners, and financial institutions to hedge price exposure.
Why is the gold market open 23 hours a day?
Gold is a global asset traded by participants in every time zone. The CME Globex electronic platform allows continuous trading from Sunday evening to Friday evening so that price discovery never has a long gap. The brief 5:00 to 6:00 PM ET reset each weekday is for the venue's internal clearing operations and not a real market closure.