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E-mini Dow Futures (YM) Contract Specifications

What you're trading

The E-mini Dow $5 future (YM) gives you exposure to the Dow Jones Industrial Average — a price-weighted index of 30 large, established U.S. companies across multiple sectors. Because the DJIA is price-weighted rather than cap-weighted, higher-priced component stocks exert more influence on the index than larger-cap names. YM is used to hedge blue-chip equity exposure, trade sector rotations, and take directional views on U.S. large-cap value-oriented industries.

Contract size

$5 × DJIA Index. With the DJIA near 46,000, one YM contract carries a notional value of roughly $230,000.

Tick value

Minimum price fluctuation is 1.00 index point, and each tick is worth $5.00 per contract. Because the tick is a full index point (not a fraction), YM is the most straightforward of the four E-mini equity index contracts to calculate P&L on.

Trading hours

CME Globex: Sunday 5:00 p.m. CT through Friday 4:00 p.m. CT, with a daily maintenance halt from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. CT Monday through Thursday.

Settlement type

Cash-settled. Contracts expire quarterly on the third Friday of March, June, September, and December, settling to the Special Opening Quotation of the DJIA. No physical delivery.

Margin snapshot

YM margin is typically lower than ES or NQ because of its smaller contract size relative to those products.

Initial margin (overnight)

~$10,000–$12,000 per contract (approximate; varies with volatility)

Maintenance margin

~$9,000–$11,000 per contract

Day-trade margin

Broker-set; often a fraction of overnight margin

Notional value (reference)

~$230,000 at index 46,000

Margins change with market volatility and vary by broker. The figures above are approximate and for reference only — always confirm current requirements with MetroTrade support or on the CME margin page before trading.

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