E-mini Nasdaq-100 Futures (NQ) Contract Specifications
What you're trading
The E-mini Nasdaq-100 future (NQ) tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index, which measures the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The index is heavily weighted toward technology and growth names — think Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta — so NQ tends to be more volatile than ES and is the instrument of choice for traders expressing views on U.S. tech, AI, and high-growth equity themes.
Contract size
$20 × Nasdaq-100 Index. With the index near 25,000, one NQ contract carries a notional value of roughly $500,000. That's larger than ES in dollar terms, and NQ typically moves faster — plan position sizing accordingly.
Tick value
Minimum price fluctuation is 0.25 index points, and each tick is worth $5.00 per contract. A full 1-point move equals $20, and a 10-point move equals $200 per contract.
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 Nasdaq-100 Index. No physical delivery — open positions at expiration are settled in cash.
Margin snapshot
NQ generally requires higher margin than ES because the index moves more in both index-point and dollar terms on a typical day.
|
Initial margin (overnight) |
~$22,000–$26,000 per contract (approximate; varies with volatility) |
|
Maintenance margin |
~$20,000–$23,500 per contract |
|
Day-trade margin |
Broker-set; often a fraction of overnight margin |
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Notional value (reference) |
~$500,000 at index 25,000 |
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.