What is Volume
Volume is reported by exchanges for all futures contracts. It is calculated by counting the number of contracts that have been bought and sold over a given time.
Traders often use and interpret the rise or decline of volume in a futures contract to help make trading decisions.
Volume can give important information to traders such as:
- Indicate the price levels at which traders are more or less interested in trading a futures contract.
- During the roll, indicate to traders when to switch to trading the front month futures contract as volume decreases in the expiring contract.
- Identify the times of day when a futures contract is most liquid.