NQ futures contract specs: point value, tick value, hours and expiry

One NQ point is worth $20 and one tick, a quarter of a point, is worth $5.00. MNQ, the micro contract, is exactly one tenth: $2 a point and $0.50 a tick, so ten MNQ equal one NQ. Both trade on CME Globex from Sunday 6:00 p.m. to Friday 5:00 p.m. ET with a one-hour break every day at 5:00 p.m. ET, and both expire quarterly on the third Friday of March, June, September and December.

NQ and MNQ specs at a glance

NQ is the E-mini Nasdaq-100 and MNQ the Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100; both are financially (cash) settled. Source: CME Group contract specifications, read October 5, 2026.

What is the NQ point value and tick value?

One NQ point is $20 and one tick (0.25 points) is $5.00, so a 100-point move is $2,000 per contract. To turn any point move into dollars for NQ or MNQ, use our NQ point value calculator.

How many MNQ equal one NQ?

Ten. MNQ is $2 a point against NQ's $20, on the same index with the same 0.25 tick, so ten MNQ move exactly like one NQ. The trade-off is commission: ten micros pay ten commissions where one mini pays one. We work through the math in NQ vs MNQ.

What are the NQ futures trading hours?

NQ and MNQ trade on CME Globex from Sunday 6:00 p.m. to Friday 5:00 p.m. ET (5:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT), with a daily maintenance break from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. ET. That is close to 23 hours a day, five days a week. In our backtested book the open hour and the overnight reopen hold about 77.7% of the profit, which is why the hour you trade matters more than the session being open.

When do NQ futures expire?

Quarterly, at 9:30 a.m. ET on the third Friday of March, June, September and December. The month codes are H (March), M (June), U (September) and Z (December). The next four expirations:

Both contracts are financially settled, so nothing is delivered: a position still open at expiry settles in cash.

When should you roll NQ to the next contract?

Before expiry, once trading volume has moved to the next quarter. Your platform shows which month carries the volume; trade that one, because the expiring contract thins out as the third Friday approaches.

How much margin does NQ require?

CME sets the exchange maintenance margin. For the December 2026 NQ contract it was $43,430 per contract for a long position and $41,488 for a short when we read it on October 5, 2026. Brokers set their own requirements on top of that, including day-trading margins, and CME changes margins as volatility changes, so check the CME margins page and your broker before you trade. MNQ margin is set separately.

How big is a normal NQ day in dollars?

On our own data, NQ averaged 137 points, or $2,750, of daily range per contract from 2011 to May 2025, about $275 on MNQ. Recent days run much wider: over the last 12 months to May 2025 the average was 359 points, or $7,186 per NQ contract, so the long-run average understates a normal day now. The full measurement, and how it compares with ES, is in NQ and ES average daily range.

Go further

• NQ point value calculator: any point move in dollars, for NQ and MNQ
• NQ vs MNQ: which contract fits your account size
• The best time to trade NQ futures: 3,500 trades measured by the hour
• STS NQ futures signals: what the signals are and how they reach you
• Our live forward record: every signal since go-live, as it happened

Sources and disclosure. Contract specifications and margins are CME Group's and can change at any time; check cmegroup.com and your broker before trading. STS figures are from our backtested NQ book and are hypothetical. This article is educational and is not investment advice.