From 6:00 p.m. U.S. ET to 5:00 p.m. U.S. ET, Sunday through Friday, natural gas futures are traded online on the Globex trading platform. Every calendar month, from January to December, primary natural gas futures contracts trade.
When do natural gas options run out?
Natural gas contracts expire three business days before the delivery month’s first calendar day. As a result, Contract 1’s delivery month is the calendar month after the trading date.
When do futures contracts trade?
- Stock index futures, such as the S&P 500 E-mini Futures (ES), reflect expectations for a stock index’s price at a later date, based on dividends and interest rates.
- Index futures are two-party agreements that are considered a zero-sum game because when one party wins, the other loses, and there is no net wealth transfer.
- While the stock market in the United States is most busy from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, stock index futures trade almost continuously.
- Outside of normal market hours, the rise or fall in index futures is frequently utilized as a predictor of whether the stock market will open higher or lower the next day.
- Arbitrageurs use buy and sell programs in the stock market to profit from price differences between index futures and fair value.
How do natural gas futures contracts work?
The settlements in the E-Mini Natural Gas (QG) futures contracts are directly derived from the settlements of the standard sized Natural Gas (NG) futures contracts, rounded to the closest marketable tick.
What is the purpose of natural gas futures contracts?
A natural gas future, like all commodities, is a contract that binds the buyer to buy a certain amount of natural gas at a specified price and date in the future. The 15th of the following month is chosen as the delivery date.
When do the S&P futures options expire?
The final settlement time varies by product, just like the expiration date. For example, when the outright futures contract settlement price is decided at 2:30 p.m. ET, natural gas options on futures cease trading. The Monday weekly options on futures for the E-mini S&P 500, on the other hand, expire at 4 p.m. ET.
Can futures lose their value?
Futures vary from options in that even a losing futures contract (loss position) retains its value after expiration. An oil contract, for example, represents barrels of oil. If a trader retains a contract until it expires, it is because they want to buy (they bought the contract) or sell (they sold the contract) the oil represented by the contract. As a result, the futures contract does not expire worthless, and the parties are obligated to each other to fulfill their contractual obligations. Those who do not wish to be held responsible for the contract’s fulfillment must roll or close their positions before the last trading day.
Is it possible to trade futures all day?
From 6:00 p.m. EST on Sunday to 5:00 p.m. EST on Friday, futures markets are open nearly 24 hours a day, six days a week. Futures traders have more time to trade than stock and ETF traders, who only have a 6.5-hour trading session 5 days a week. Futures traders now have more trading flexibility and the ability to manage their positions at practically any time of day.
E-mini and Micro E-mini futures allow equities index traders to trade in the same markets as Wall Street both before and after the stock market’s relatively short trading period. Index traders can take advantage of events like earnings releases that occur outside of normal stock market trading hours more successfully.
What is the last day of the NYMEX settlement?
The expiration price of the natural gas contract on the day that trading of the underlying monthly contract is terminated is referred to as the NYMEX Last Day Settle.
Is Henry Hub identical to NYMEX?
The Henry Hub is a natural gas pipeline in Erath, Louisiana, that serves as the official delivery place for New York Mercantile Exchange futures contracts (NYMEX). Sabine Pipe Line LLC owns the hub, which offers access to many of the country’s major gas markets. The Transcontinental, Acadian, and Sabine pipelines are among the four intrastate and nine interstate pipelines connected to the center.