The CME Group offers access to the S&P 500 indices through a variety of products, including the E-mini and the micro E-mini contracts.
The S&P 500 Index is a market-capitalization-weighted index of 500 leading publicly traded companies in the US.
- The S&P 500 is a float-weighted index.
- The S&P 500 index was first launched in 1957.
- Because of its size, depth, and diversity it is widely considered one of the best gauges of the entire equities market.
CME Group S&P 500 index futures products offer derivatives market access to the S&P 500 index and trade like any normal futures product.
The notional value of the ES (the E-mini S&P 500 contract) is $500 x the S&P 500 index.
The notional value of the MES (the micro E-mini S&P 500 contract) is $5 x the S&P 500 index.
The ES contract lists quarterly contracts (March (H), June (M), September (U), December (Z), for 21 consecutive quarters. (https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/equities/sp/e-mini-sandp500.contractSpecs.html)
The MES contract lists quarterly contracts (March (H), June (M), September (U), December (Z), for five consecutive quarters. (https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/equities/sp/micro-e-mini-sandp-500.contractSpecs.html)
The S&P 500 futures contracts are financially settled.