The S&P 500 is one of the most important and best-known share indices in the world. It is regarded as a benchmark for the development of the American stock markets. As an index itself cannot be bought or sold, there are a large number of financial instruments available that can be used to profit from the price movements of the index or to hedge against them. The E-mini S&P 500 Future with the abbreviation ES is one of the most widely used instruments for active traders.
Contract specifications
| Designation | E-mini S&P 500 |
| Abbreviation | ES |
| Contract size | 50 USD x S&P 500 Index |
| Price quote | Index points |
| Tick size | 0.25 Index points |
| Tick value | 12.50 USD |
| Daily price limit | None |
| Stock Exchange | CME/Globex |
| Trading hours (DE) | 0 o'clock - 22.30 o'clock 22:30 - 23:00 |
| Contract months | Mar (H), Jun (M), Sep (U), Dec (Z) for the next 5 quarters |
The E-mini S&P 500 Future (ES) has an equivalent value of 50 USD per index point. A movement of the S&P 500 of 1 % would thus currently cause a profit or loss of 1400 USD with an index point level of 2800 in the future.
The big brother of the E-mini (SP)
In addition to the E-mini future, there is another future with a higher contract value. The large S&P 500 future (ticker: SP) has a contract size of USD 250 per point and thus has 5 times the value of the E-mini future. The contract is therefore generally not used by private traders and is mainly used by institutional market participants.
S&P 500 Micro E-mini Futures (MES)
For small accounts, the Micro Future (abbreviation MES) is a contract whose point value is 5 USD (1/10 of the E-mini Future). Thus, private traders for whom the E-mini Future is too large can also trade with real futures contracts.
In addition to futures, there are also numerous ETFs on the S&P 500 Index. The best known and most liquid is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF with the abbreviation SPY.
Options are also tradable for the ES as well as for the SPY.