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Futures Contract Specs

Tick size, tick value, point value and contract unit for the most-traded CME futures. The numbers you need before you can size a position, and the ones most commonly misremembered.

By , founder and editor Updated

Equity index

Symbol Contract Unit Tick size Tick value Point value
ES E-mini S&P 500 CME $50 x S&P 500 Index 0.25 index points $12.50 $50
MES Micro E-mini S&P 500 CME $5 x S&P 500 Index 0.25 index points $1.25 $5
NQ E-mini Nasdaq-100 CME $20 x Nasdaq-100 Index 0.25 index points $5 $20
MNQ Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 CME $2 x Nasdaq-100 Index 0.25 index points $0.50 $2
YM E-mini Dow CBOT $5 x Dow Jones Industrial Average 1.00 index point $5 $5
RTY E-mini Russell 2000 CME $50 x Russell 2000 Index 0.10 index points $5 $50

Metals

Symbol Contract Unit Tick size Tick value Point value
GC Gold COMEX 100 troy ounces 0.10 per troy ounce $10 $100
MGC Micro Gold COMEX 10 troy ounces 0.10 per troy ounce $1 $10
SI Silver COMEX 5,000 troy ounces 0.005 per troy ounce $25 $5,000
HG Copper COMEX 25,000 pounds 0.0005 per pound $12.50 $25,000

Energy

Symbol Contract Unit Tick size Tick value Point value
CL WTI Crude Oil NYMEX 1,000 barrels 0.01 per barrel $10 $1,000
NG Henry Hub Natural Gas NYMEX 10,000 MMBtu 0.001 per MMBtu $10 $10,000

Interest rates

Symbol Contract Unit Tick size Tick value Point value
ZB 30-Year U.S. Treasury Bond CBOT Face value at maturity of $100,000 1/32 of one point (0.03125) $31.25 $1,000
ZN 10-Year U.S. Treasury Note CBOT Face value at maturity of $100,000 1/2 of 1/32 of one point (0.015625) $15.625 $1,000
ZF 5-Year U.S. Treasury Note CBOT Face value at maturity of $100,000 1/4 of 1/32 of one point (0.0078125) $7.8125 $1,000

Currencies

Symbol Contract Unit Tick size Tick value Point value
6E Euro FX CME 125,000 euro 0.000050 per euro (Globex outright) $6.25 $125,000
6J Japanese Yen CME 12,500,000 Japanese yen 0.0000005 per yen (Globex outright) $6.25 $12,500,000
6B British Pound CME 62,500 British pounds 0.0001 per pound (Globex outright) $6.25 $62,500

How to use these numbers

risk per contract = stop distance in ticks × tick value
contracts = (account × risk %) ÷ risk per contract

That is the whole job these specifications do. Suppose you trade the E-mini S&P 500 with a stop 12 points away. Twelve points is 48 ticks, and each tick is $12.50, so one contract risks $600. On a $30,000 account risking 1%, that is $300, which means one contract is already double your intended risk and the Micro at $60 per 12 points is the contract that fits. Working that out beforehand is the difference between a considered position and an accidental one.

The largest amount of errors occur in the tick versus point differentiation. A trader will be off by at least a multiple of four if he thinks a tick is a point on the E-mini or by an even greater magnitude with regard to the 10-year Treasury Note where a tick equals one-half of one-thirty second. With this information regarding the dollar value of each contract (i.e., the "risk per contract") the position size calculator will then turn your position into a number representing a fixed percent of your account and the risk/reward calculator will tell you if your target is large enough to justify using that much money as a stop.

Where these figures came from

Every number on this page was taken directly from CME Group's contract specification information for each of the products listed on 2026-07-23 (as opposed to being remembered or copied from somewhere else). It may seem like a small difference but the way in which contract specifications are written can indeed change; summaries that have been published by others can become outdated and if an incorrect tick size has gone unnoticed it can multiply or divide someone's risk. There are two specific items regarding the products that are easily misunderstood when using CME Group products. First, some of the contracts will quote a finer tick for trading calendar spreads as compared to trading outright positions and secondly, the currency futures will have different minimum tick sizes when traded through CME Globex versus CME ClearPort. In both cases the Globex outright is quoted since this is where a screen trader would be accessing these markets.

Margin requirements are deliberately absent. They change often, differ by clearing firm, and differ again between day-trade and overnight positions, so publishing them would create exactly the kind of confidently-wrong reference this page exists to avoid. As a cross-check on the table itself, tick value equals tick size multiplied by point value for all 18 contracts listed.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between tick value and point value?
A tick is the smallest price increment the contract can move; a point is a full 1.00 move in the quoted price. Tick value is what one tick is worth in dollars, point value what a whole point is worth. For the E-mini S&P 500 a tick is 0.25 index points worth $12.50, and a full point is worth $50, four ticks. Confusing the two is a four-fold sizing error on that contract, and much larger on others.
Why do some contracts show a different tick for spreads?
Exchanges often allow a finer minimum increment for calendar spreads and certain venues than for outright trades, because spread prices are differences and need finer granularity. Everything on this page is the OUTRIGHT tick on CME Globex, which is what you face trading the contract on a screen. If you trade spreads, check the spread tick separately.
Do these numbers change?
Yes. Exchanges revise contract specifications, and have made meaningful changes to tick sizes and contract units over the years. That is exactly why every figure here was read from the exchange's own specification data on the date shown rather than reproduced from a reference. Treat the date as part of the data, and confirm with the exchange before sizing a real position.
What about margin requirements?
Deliberately omitted. Initial and maintenance margins change frequently, vary between clearing firms, and differ for day-trade versus overnight positions, so any figure published here would be stale and misleading almost immediately. Your broker's current margin schedule is the only reliable source for that.
Are the micros the same contract?
Same underlying index, one tenth the size. The Micro E-mini S&P 500 is $5 per index point against the E-mini's $50, with the same 0.25 tick, so a tick is $1.25 rather than $12.50. They exist so that a position can be sized sensibly on a smaller account, which is often the difference between a survivable risk per trade and an impossible one.

Method and limitations

Specifications were read from CME Group's own contract-specification data for each product on 2026-07-23. Where a product quotes different minimum ticks by venue or by spread type, the outright tick on CME Globex is shown. Contract specifications change: this page is a static reference verified on the date given, not a live feed, and the exchange is the authority. Margin requirements are not published here because they vary by broker and change frequently. This is reference information, not trading advice.

Data sources

For general information and education only. This is not financial advice and not a recommendation to buy or sell anything. This tool is provided as is, with no warranty of accuracy: like any software it can contain errors, so always verify figures against your broker or the original source before acting on them. Trading and investing carry risk, including the risk of losing more than your initial outlay.

Spotted an error? Email [email protected] and it will be corrected. Maintained by Joey van Diest.