What happens to open positions over the weekend?

Weekends matter for prop firms because of gap risk. News released while markets are closed shows up as a jump between Friday's last price and Sunday's first price.

What a trader experiences

• During the weekend: forex and index prices do not move, so equity is unchanged. Crypto positions keep moving.
• At the reopen: the first price may be far from Friday's close.
• Stops: a stop the market jumps over closes at the first available price, which can be well beyond the stop level.
• Rules: if equity drops below a loss limit at the reopen, the account breaches.

How firms handle it

• Allow weekend holding for swing traders, sometimes as an add-on.
• Ban weekend holding with a Friday cutoff for intraday programmes.
• Explain gap risk clearly in the rules.

Worked example

A trader holds 2 lots long on US500 over the weekend with a stop 30 points below Friday's close. The index opens 45 points lower. The stop closes at the first price, 45 points down, not 30, and the loss is larger than the trader planned.

PropExecutor offers a no weekend holding rule with a configurable Friday cutoff in UTC, checked on every tick. Without it, positions remain open over the weekend and are valued on the next live price when the market reopens.