CME Group halted trading across its major derivatives markets following a critical cooling-system failure at a key data center operated by CyrusOne.
The disruption brought CME’s Globex electronic trading platform to a standstill, affecting markets ranging from foreign exchange and U.S. Treasuries to crude oil, agricultural products, and equity-index futures.
The halt occurred during a period of lighter activity after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, catching traders and institutions off guard. Technical teams were immediately deployed to resolve the malfunction, and trading has since resumed under contingency protocols.
Market participants reported that price feeds stopped updating and order routing became unavailable just before the official pause, leading to disrupted hedging operations, forced order cancellations, and tightened liquidity.
The incident raised systemic concerns about infrastructure resilience, with regulators expected to review reports for potential additional safeguards or mandatory redundancies. CME is anticipated to release further details on the cause and long-term infrastructure changes to enhance reliability.
