Micro E-mini S&P 500 Futures (MES) Contract Specifications
What you're trading
The Micro E-mini S&P 500 future (MES) is 1/10th the size of the standard ES contract but tracks the exact same S&P 500 Index. It was designed to make S&P 500 futures exposure accessible to smaller accounts, let traders fine-tune position sizing in finer increments than ES allows, and open the door to strategies (like scaling in and out, or testing ideas) that would be too capital-intensive at the full ES contract size. MES trades alongside ES with deep liquidity and identical market structure.
Contract size
$5 × S&P 500 Index. With the index near 6,800, one MES contract carries a notional value of roughly $34,000 — exactly one-tenth of an ES contract.
Tick value
Minimum price fluctuation is 0.25 index points, and each tick is worth $1.25 per contract. A full 1-point move equals $5, and a 10-point move equals $50 per contract.
Trading hours
CME Globex: Sunday 5:00 p.m. CT through Friday 4:00 p.m. CT, with the same daily 4:00–5:00 p.m. CT maintenance halt Monday through Thursday.
Settlement type
Cash-settled. Contracts expire quarterly on the third Friday of March, June, September, and December, settling to the same Special Opening Quotation of the S&P 500 as ES.
Margin snapshot
MES margin is roughly 1/10th of ES, making it one of the lowest-capital ways to get direct S&P 500 futures exposure.
|
Initial margin (overnight) |
~$1,700–$1,900 per contract (approximate; varies with volatility) |
|
Maintenance margin |
~$1,550–$1,750 per contract |
|
Day-trade margin |
Broker-set; often a small fraction of overnight margin |
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Notional value (reference) |
~$34,000 at index 6,800 |
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.