E-mini Nasdaq 100 (NQ) December (Z) contract study: year-by-year results, the day-by-day shape of the move and where highs and lows printed.
Contract Almanac · E-mini Nasdaq-100
Every December Nasdaq contract 2010–2025, measured over its tenure as the lead contract · Typically leads Sep 13 – Dec 11
The December contract holds the Nasdaq from mid-September to mid-December, and it runs the equity study’s signature route at tech amplitude: the October dip, the turn, and the year-end rally, good for 13 of 16 higher (81%) with a +4.0% average and the same repeating shape its ES and YM siblings show.
Each year is one contract, measured from the open of the day it took over the lead to the close of the day it handed off, the same roll convention used across all Traders Brief research. An index contract holds the lead for a full quarter, roughly 63 trading days from one roll to the next — these are quarterly seats, not months, and the day counts read accordingly. All highs and lows are the contract’s own trades, marked by trading day of the tenure, not calendar day.