FAQ: Options on Micro E-mini S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures
Frequently asked questions: Options on Micro E-mini S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures
Options on Micro E-mini S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures contracts are now available to trade at CME Group.
- How has the listing cycle changed?
- How are these products different from related E-mini options?
- What are the contract specifications?
- What are the codes for these products?
- What are the vendor options codes?
- How many contracts will be listed at a given time?
- What are the trading hours on CME Globex?
- What are the exercise procedures for these contracts?
- What is the methodology for determining the expiration day special fixing price?
- What are the fees for Micro E-mini contracts?
- Are these products included in the CME Equity Product Volume Discounts?
- Can the Micro E-mini options be offset against the classic E-mini counterparts?
- How can I see prices for Micro E-mini futures and options?
- Where can I find Micro E-Mini option market data?
- How can I get access to CME Globex?
- Where can I find more information on Micro E-mini products?
Enhancements to Micro E-mini S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 options: February 2023
1. How has the listing cycle changed?
CME Group has extended the listing cycle of Micro E-mini S&P 500 Options by adding:
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday expiries
- Week 3 Friday expiries: changing from 2 consecutive months (excluding quarterly Mar, Jun, Sep Dec months) to instead be 6 consecutive months (inclusive of quarterly Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec months).
CME Group has extended the listing cycle of Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 Options by adding:
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday expiries
- Week 3 Friday expiries: changing from 2 consecutive months (excluding quarterly Mar, Jun, Sep Dec months) to instead be 3 consecutive months (inclusive of quarterly Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec months).
Product Details
2. How are these products different from related E-mini options?
E-mini S&P 500 and E-mini Nasdaq-100 options are among the most popular options on futures contracts in the world. They have been in market since 1997 and 1999, respectively, and have provided liquidity and risk-management capabilities since their launch.
Options on Micro E-mini futures have advanced this ecosystem by allowing greater precision at a lower capital cost with these “smaller-sized” options contracts. Similar to the differences between E-mini and Micro E-mini futures contracts, these Micro E-mini options contracts are 1/10th the size of their E-mini counterparts.
3. What are the contract specifications?
| Micro E-mini S&P 500 options | Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 options | |
| Underlying futures [text-align: left] | MES | MNQ |
| Underlying futures Multiplier [text-align: left] | $5 | $2 |
| Contract unit [text-align: left] | 1 MES futures | 1 MNQ futures |
| Listed contracts [text-align: left] |
European Style, PM Expiring Options: 1 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday Option 3 Friday Week 1,2, and 4 Options 6 Friday Week 3 Options (S&P 500) 3 Friday Week 3 Options (Nasdaq-100) American Style, AM Expiring Options: 2 Quarterly Options (Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec cycle) |
|
| Exercise procedure [text-align: left] |
Non-Quarterly AM Expiring Options: European Style Quarterly AM Expiring Options: American Style |
|
| Settlement at expiration [text-align: left] | Option exercise results in a position in the underlying cash-settled futures contract | |
| Minimum price increments | ||
| Regular tick | Reduced tick | |
| Micro E-mini S&P 500 options | 0.25 index points = $1.25 for premium above 5.00 index points | 0.05 index points = $0.25 for premium at or below 5.00 index points |
| Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 options | 0.25 index points = $0.50 for premium above 5.00 index points | 0.05 index points = $0.10 for premium at or below 5.00 index points |
View full Micro E-mini S&P contract specifications
View full Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 contract specifications
4. What are the codes for these products?
| Monday WEEKLY | TueSDAY WEEKLY | WeDNESDAY WEEKLY | THURSDAY WEEKLY | FRIDAY WEEKLY | EOM | QUARTERLY | |
| Micro E-mini S&P 500 options | X1A-X5A | X1B-X5B | X1C-X5C | X1D-X5D | EX1-EX4 | EX | MES |
| Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 options | D1A-D5A | D1B-D5B | D1C-D5C | D1D-D5D | MQ1-MQ4 | MQE | MNQ |
5. What are the vendor options codes?
| OPTION SUBCLASS | CME GLOBEX CODE | BLOOMBERG OMON OPTIONS DISPLAY | THOMSON REUTERS |
| MICRO E-MINI S&P 500 OPTIONS | |||
| MONDAY WEEKLY 1-5 [text-align: left] | X1A-X5A | HWCA Index OMON | XAA1W-XAA5W |
| TUESDAY WEEKLY 1-5 [text-align: left] | X1B-X5B | HWDA Index OMON | XB1W-XB5W |
| WEDNESDAY WEEKLY 1-5 [text-align: left] | X1C-X5C | HVWA Index OMON | XXC1W-XXC5W |
| THURSDAY WEEKLY 1-5 [text-align: left] | X1D-X5D | HWLA Index OMON | XD1W-XD5W |
| FRIDAY WEEKLY 1-4 [text-align: left] | EX1-EX4 | HXSA Index OMON | 1EX1W-1EX4W |
| END-OF-MONTH [text-align: left] | EX | HWOA Index OMON | 1EX |
| QUARTERLIES [text-align: left] | MES | HWAA Index OMON | 1MED |
| MICRO E-MINI NASDAQ-100 OPTIONS | |||
| MONDAY WEEKLY 1-5 [text-align: left] | D1A-D5A | HWSA Index OMON | DA1W-DA5W |
| TUESDAY WEEKLY 1-5 [text-align: left] | D1B-D5B | HWTA Index OMON | XDB1W-XDB5W |
| WEDNESDAY WEEKLY 1-5 [text-align: left] | D1C-D5C | HWWA Index OMON | DC1W-DC5W |
| THURSDAY WEEKLY 1-5 [text-align: left] | D1D-D5D | HVYA Index OMON | DD1W-DD5W |
| FRIDAY WEEKLY 1-4 [text-align: left] | MQ1-MQ4 | HWYA Index OMON | 1MQ1W-1MQ4W |
| END-OF-MONTH [text-align: left] | MQE | HIWA Index OMON | 1MQE |
| QUARTERLIES [text-align: left] | MNQ | HWBA Index OMON | 1MQN |
6. How many contracts will be listed at a given time?
| CONTRACT | HOW MANY ARE LISTED? |
| Monday | One nearest week of Monday Micro E-mini S&P 500 / Nasdaq-100 Options |
| Tuesday | One nearest week of Tuesday Micro E-mini S&P 500 / Nasdaq-100 Options |
| Wednesday | One nearest week of Wednesday Micro E-mini S&P 500 / Nasdaq-100 Options |
| Thursday | One nearest week of Thursday Micro E-mini S&P 500 / Nasdaq-100 Options |
| Friday |
Three nearest weeks of Friday Week 1,2, 4 Micro E-mini S&P 500 / Nasdaq-100 Options Six nearest weeks of Friday Week 3 Micro E-mini S&P 500 Options. Three nearest weeks of Friday Week 3 Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 Options. |
| EOM | Three nearest months of Micro E-mini S&P 500 / Nasdaq-100 Options expiring on the last business day of the month. |
| Quarterly | Two months in the March Quarterly Cycle (Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec) that will expire on the third Friday of the quarterly month. |
Assuming that today is March 1, 2023, the below illustrates what the listing cycle would look like. As shown, Micro E-mini options can provide flexibility and precision to participants with a variety of maturities available.
7. What are the trading hours on CME Globex?
CME Globex: Sunday 6:00 p.m. - Friday - 5:00 p.m. ET (5:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. CT) with a daily
maintenance period from 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. CT)
Contract Mechanics
8. What are the exercise procedures for these contracts?
Exercise procedures for options on Micro E-mini futures will mimic their E-mini options counterparts:
| mONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | END-OF-MONTH | QUARTERLY | |
| American | |||||||
| European |
European: Exercisable only on expiration day.
Options which are in-the-money on the last day of trading are automatically exercised. A 3 p.m. CT price fixing based on the weighted average traded price fixing (symbol ESF & NQF) of the E-mini S&P 500 futures and E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures in the last 30 seconds of trading on expiration day (2:59:30 p.m.-3:00:00 p.m. CT) will be used to determine which options are in-the-money
American: An option can be exercised until 5:30pm CT on any business day that the option is traded. Option exercise results in a position in the underlying cash-settled futures contract. Please contact your broker/FCM as they may have an earlier deadline for same-day exercise.
In-the-money options, in the absence of contrarian instructions delivered to the CME Clearing by 5:30 p.m. CT on the day of expiration, are automatically exercised into expiring cash-settled futures, which settle to the SOQ calculated the morning of the third Friday of the contract month.
9. What is the methodology for determining the expiration day special fixing price?
The fixing price is the volume-weighted average price in E-mini S&P 500 futures (E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures), traded during the 30-second period leading up to 3:00 p.m. CT. Only outright trades of the E-mini futures in the corresponding contract month shall be included in the calculation. Spread trades involving the corresponding contract month of the E-mini futures contract shall be disregarded for the purpose of the fixing calculation.
This fixing price will be disseminated immediately using the symbol “ESF” for S&P 500 & “NQF” for Nasdaq-100.
Fee & Margin Details
10. What are the fees for Micro E-mini contracts?
Micro E-mini S&P 500 & Nasdaq-100 products are part of the Micro E-mini Equity Index futures and options suite according to the CME Fee Schedule.
11. Are these products included in the CME Equity Product Volume Discounts?
No - similar to the Micro E-mini futures contracts, options volume will not count towards the current E-mini volume-based fee discounts available to members.
12. Can the Micro E-mini options be offset against their E-mini counterparts?
Yes, European-style Options on Micro E-mini futures are offset eligible versus their E-mini counterparts at 10:1 ratio. This can only be applied to offsetting positions. Request can be made by your clearing broker directly to the CME Clearing House.
Additional Information
13. How can I see prices for Micro E-mini futures and options?
Delayed quotes will be available online on the CME Group website. You can also access quotes through major quote vendors.
14. Where can I find Micro E-Mini option market data?
The Micro E-Mini S&P 500 options market data will be published on MDP 3.0 channel 323. The Micro E-Mini Nasdaq-100 options market data will be published on MDP 3.0 channel 319.
15. How can I get access to CME Globex?
To access CME Globex, you must have a relationship with a CME Clearing member firm.
Learn more about connecting to CME Globex
16. Where can I find more information on Micro E-mini options?
Visit cmegroup.com/microeminioptions for the latest information. You can fill out the form on this page to stay informed of Micro E-mini product updates.