S&P 500 futures provide a way to efficiently gain exposure to the large-cap U.S. stock market with contracts on the world’s most widely followed financial benchmark. They also enable you to:

• Benefit from lower costs compared to trading individual stocks or Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)
• Use a financial tool that accommodates a range of strategies, different market environments and varied objectives
• Together with other CME Group equity products, effectively replicate all your global equity exposure on a single platform 

Things to know:

• Trading takes place:
  • On the CME Group trading floor during open outcry trading hours
  • Electronically on the CME Globex platform when the trading floor is closed
• CME Clearing matches and settles all trades and guarantees counterparty creditworthiness 

About the Underlying Index

The S&P 500 Index is a perhaps the most widely followed benchmark of stock market performance in the world. It is a capitalization-weighted and float-adjusted index of 500 large-capitalization stocks traded on the NYSE, ASE and the Nasdaq National Market System. The Index represents the market value of all outstanding common shares of 500 firms listed (share price x shares outstanding). A change in the price of any one stock influences the Index in proportion to the relative market value of that firm's outstanding shares.

Read more about the underlying Index, including a complete list of stocks currently represented, on the Standard & Poor’s Web site.