The ES futures market is based upon the S&P (Standard & Poors) 500 stock index, which is one of the stock indexes of the CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) in the US. The S&P 500 index is calculated using the prices of 500 large capitalization US companies. The ES futures market is traded on the Globex electronic trading system, 24 hours per day from 5:00 PM Central Time on Sunday night to 4:30 PM Central Time on Friday night. The ES futures market has a daily trading volume of approximately 1100000 contracts, and a daily price range of approximately 13 points (52 ticks).
Companies
As of May 2007, the S&P 500 stock index includes 500 large capitalization US companies, such as the following companies :
- 3M
- Abbott Labs
- Baker Hughes
- C. H. Robinson
- D. R. Horton
- E*Trade
- Family Dollar Stores
- Gannett
- Halliburton
- IAC / InterActive
- Jabil Circuit
- KB Home
- L-3 Communications
- M & T Bank
- Nabors Industries
- Occidental Petroleum
- PACCAR
- QLogic
- RadioShack
- SAFECO
- T. Rowe Price
- U. S. Bancorp
- V. F.
- Wachovia
- Xcel Energy
- Yahoo
- Zimmer Holdings
Contract Specifications
The full contract specifications for the ES futures market are as follows :
- Symbol (IB / Sierra Chart Format) : ES
- Expiration date (as of May 2007) : June 15 2007
- Exchange : GLOBEX
- Currency : US Dollar
- Multiplier / Contract value : $50
- Tick size / Minimum price change : 0.25
- Tick value / Minimum price value : $12.50
Holidays
In 2007, the ES futures market is open for trading every trading day (Monday to Friday), except for the following holidays, when the opening and closing times are modified :
- January 01
- January 02
- January 12
- January 15
- February 16
- February 19
- April 06
- May 25
- May 28
- July 03
- July 04
- August 31
- September 03
- October 05
- October 08
- November 09
- November 12
- November 21
- November 22
- November 23
- December 24
- December 25
- December 26
- December 31
Exchange Web Site
The CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) web site is available at http://www.cme.com/, and provides additional information about the exchange, its trading system, and the ES index and futures market.
