When Does the Daily Loss Limit Reset? Times by Firm and Time Zone

At many futures prop firms, the daily loss limit resets at the start of the CME trading day, 5:00 p.m. Central Time (6:00 p.m. Eastern), not at midnight. Topstep’s help center gives 5 PM CT and Apex Trader Funding’s gives 6 PM ET, which is the same moment, so a loss taken in the evening counts toward the next trading day.

This guide lists the reset time at three firms, converts it to your time zone (including the clock change on 1 November 2026), explains what counts toward the limit, and covers accounts with no daily limit at all. Firm rules differ by plan and change often: every example comes from the firm’s own help page, and you should check your firm’s current page.

Reset times at three futures firms

Checked on each firm’s help center on 26 October 2026. Topstep’s trading day ends at 3:10 p.m. CT, before the market’s 4:00 p.m. CT pause. Other firms set their own cut-offs; the prop firm rules cheat sheet lists them.

Why the day starts at 5 p.m. Chicago time

CME Group’s equity index futures trade Sunday to Friday, 5:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT, with a one-hour halt from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. CT. The trading day therefore starts the evening before the calendar date it is named after, and firms that follow it reset your daily loss there.

Example: you lose $300 on MNQ at 7:00 p.m. CT on Monday. At a firm on the CME day, that loss belongs to Tuesday’s trading day. If you then lose $700 on Tuesday morning, Tuesday’s total reaches −$1,000 and a $1,000 daily limit is hit, even though Tuesday morning alone was only −$700. The full weekly schedule is in futures trading hours.

The reset in your time zone

5:00 p.m. CT converted to local time. The US sets clocks back on Sunday 1 November 2026 and the UK and EU did so on 25 October, so this week is different:

Times after midnight fall on the next calendar day. In US time the reset never moves, because Chicago and New York change clocks together. Outside the US, set your reminder by the US clock or check it again after each change.

What counts toward the daily limit

The firms’ pages agree on the main point: open losses count, not just closed trades.

• Topstep calculates the limit on each trading day’s net P&L, including commissions and fees and both realized and unrealized P&L.
• Apex says its limit applies to total account equity, including realized and unrealized losses.
• FundedNext Futures counts closed and floating losses plus commissions and fees, measured from the start-of-day balance: a $50,000 start with a $1,000 limit puts the floor at $49,000.

So a day can end on an open trade. Say you are up $600 in closed trades and then hold a position that is $1,600 against you: net P&L is $600 − $1,600 = −$1,000, and a $1,000 limit is hit even though no losing trade has closed. At all three firms, hitting the daily limit stops trading until the next session rather than failing the account (Topstep and Apex also close open positions); soft vs hard daily loss limit explains the difference.

Daily limit vs drawdown: two clocks, one reset

The end-of-day trailing drawdown is usually calculated at the same moment. FundedNext, for example, says its Maximum Loss Limit updates at 5:00 p.m. CT, the same time the trading day rolls over. At firms that work this way, a good evening session raises tomorrow’s numbers, and a bad evening session starts the next day already down. Trailing drawdown vs daily loss limit works through both with dollar examples.

Accounts with no daily loss limit

Several firms now sell plans without one, and traders are asking what replaces it. From the firms’ own pages:

• Topstep describes the daily loss limit as optional in the Trading Combine and Express Funded Account (chosen at purchase) and automatic in the Live Funded Account. An older Topstep article says new or reset TopstepX accounts are created without one.
• Apex says there is no daily loss limit on its Intraday Drawdown Evaluations.
• FundedNext Futures lists no daily loss limit on its Legacy and Flex plans.

Nothing replaces it. The maximum loss or trailing drawdown becomes the only line, so one bad day can use all of it. On a 50K plan with a $2,000 maximum loss, a $1,000 daily limit stops a bad day halfway; without one, the same day can end the account. That is why traders on no-limit plans often write their own daily stop. How to set one is in risk management for prop traders.

Five mistakes around the reset

1. Counting from midnight. Your platform’s calendar day and the firm’s trading day are different days.
2. Forgetting the evening session. A loss after 5:00 p.m. CT starts the next day in the red.
3. Ignoring the open trade. Floating losses count at all three firms above.
4. Not rechecking after a clock change. In Europe and Asia the reset moves by an hour twice a year.
5. Assuming every plan works the same. Limits, reset wording and even whether a limit exists differ by plan at the same firm.

Track your day the way the firm does

Write your firm’s reset time in your own time zone at the top of your trading plan, and review losses by trading day, not by calendar date. In TJ, import your fills (how to import trades) and set each account’s daily and maximum loss in Prop guard: it warns at 50%, 80% and 100% so you see the line before the firm closes your positions. More on the prop firm trading journal page.

Firm rules checked on the official help pages listed below on 26 October 2026. Rules differ by plan and change often; always confirm with your firm’s current rules. TJ is journaling software, not financial advice. Trading involves risk of loss.