E-mini Nasdaq 100 (NQ) contract specifications: hours, tick size, options, the reports that move it and typical daily range.
Contract Specs · E-mini Nasdaq-100
CME Group · Verified July 2026 · Typical-day figures computed from The Traders Brief’s own 16-year database
The tech benchmark, in one card. The E-mini Nasdaq-100 is the high-beta sibling of the ES: a smaller multiplier on a much bigger number, which nets out to more than double the daily dollar swing per contract. Specs, hours, options, reports, and the typical-day math that surprises people, from our data.
| Product / symbol | NQ — E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures |
| Exchange | CME (CME Group), traded on CME Globex |
| Contract unit | $20 × the index |
| Price quotation | Index points |
| Minimum tick | 0.25 index points = $5.00 per contract |
| One index point | 1.00 point = $20 per contract |
| Trading hours | Sunday–Friday, 6:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET the next day, with a pause 4:15–4:30 p.m. and the daily halt 5:00–6:00 p.m. ET |
| Prime session | 9:30 a.m. – 4:15 p.m. ET — the cash-equity session plus the futures close; daily settlement marks at 4:00 p.m. ET |
| Options on futures | Yes — see below; the equity index options complex is the largest in the world |
| Listed months | Quarterly: Mar (H), Jun (M), Sep (U), Dec (Z) — each contract leads the board for roughly three months |
| Last trading day | 9:30 a.m. ET on the third Friday of the contract month |
| Settlement | Cash-settled to the Special Opening Quotation (SOQ) of the index — no delivery |
| Margin | Set by the exchange and your broker — confirm current requirements |
Index futures live on the cash market’s clock. The 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET equity session is where the volume is, the 4:00 p.m. cash close is the settlement anchor, and the futures trade actively to 4:15 before the afternoon pause. The overnight session is liquid by any other market’s standard and carries every earnings gap and overseas headline, but its book is a fraction of the day’s, and the first and last half hours of the cash session, the open auction and the closing ramp, are where the day’s business concentrates.
NQ options mirror the ES structure at smaller scale: quarterlies, end-of-month, and weekday weeklies, liquid in the front expiries and entirely usable, though the ES/SPX complex remains where the ocean is. The mega-cap earnings nights, when a single company can gap the whole index, are this market’s signature options events.
The recurring releases that move this market, in rough order of importance.
| Report | When | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| FOMC decisions & minutes | 8 scheduled meetings/yr, 2:00 p.m. ET | The rate path is the market’s discount rate; decision days reprice everything |
| CPI | Monthly, 8:30 a.m. ET | The inflation print that sets Fed expectations; routinely the biggest gap risk on the calendar |
| Nonfarm payrolls | First Fridays, 8:30 a.m. ET | The growth pulse, released before the cash open |
| Earnings seasons | Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct | Index-level moves ride the mega-cap reports; overnight sessions carry the gaps |
| CFTC Commitment of Traders (TFF) | Fridays 3:30 p.m. ET | Who is long and who is short, by trader class — the positioning backdrop for every move |
Over the last 12 months (259 sessions through July 23, 2026), the front NQ contract’s average daily high-to-low range was worth $9,283 per contract, with a median of $8,140, against a five-year average of $6,932. The largest single session traveled $32,815 per contract. The index tape’s character is steadier than commodities day to day, and then event days, a CPI morning, a Fed afternoon, do a week’s travel before lunch.
The contract months that actually lead this board, with the stretch each one typically holds the front.
| Contract | Code | Typically leads |
|---|---|---|
| March | H | leads roughly mid-Dec – mid-Mar |
| June | M | leads roughly mid-Mar – mid-Jun |
| September | U | leads roughly mid-Jun – mid-Sep |
| December | Z | leads roughly mid-Sep – mid-Dec |
Knowing what a tick is worth doesn’t tell you where this market sits today, what the 16-year record says about the session in front of you, or the levels that matter into the next open. That is what The Traders Brief does every morning, across energy, metals, and the indexes.
See today’s read →How much is one tick in NQ futures?
$5.00 per contract; the minimum move is 0.25 index points at $20 per point. One full index point is worth $20.
When do NQ contracts expire?
Quarterly, at 9:30 a.m. ET on the third Friday of March, June, September, and December, cash-settled to the index’s Special Opening Quotation. No delivery.
How much does the NQ move in a day?
Over the last 12 months the average daily range was worth $9,283 per contract and the median $8,140, by our own database.
What hours should I trade it?
The market is open nearly 23 hours, but the 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. ET window carries the volume, with the open and the close the two busiest stretches. Settlement marks at 4:00 p.m. ET.
Specifications reflect the exchange’s published contract terms as of July 2026 and can be amended by the exchange; confirm current terms and margin requirements with your broker before trading. Typical-day figures are computed from The Traders Brief’s historical database and describe the past, not a forecast. © 2026 The Traders Brief.