CME Group, the world’s derivatives marketplace, announced on June 30 that it will introduce single stock futures on July 27, 2026, subject to final regulatory approvals. The new contracts will give traders and investors a streamlined way to gain precise, capital-efficient exposure to individual US equities using the centralized clearing and liquidity advantages of futures.
The initial launch will feature 55 standard-sized single stock futures and 22 micro-sized versions covering more than 50 prominent U.S. companies.
These include major names such as Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta (META), Nvidia (NVDA), Tesla (TSLA), Micron (MU), and the recently public SpaceX (SPCX).
The contracts draw from stocks in the S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, and Russell 1000 indexes.Standard contracts are sized at 100 shares of the underlying stock, while the micro versions use a 10-share multiplier.
Both are financially settled in cash, eliminating any need for physical share delivery or stock borrowing.
Quarterly expirations (March, June, September, December) will be listed for the two nearest contract months, with trading terminating at 4:00 p.m. ET on the third Friday of the expiration month.
Minimum price fluctuations are set at 0.01 points, equating to $1.00 per tick for standard contracts and $0.10 for micros.
These contracts will trade on CME Globex with the same extended hours as other equity index futures — nearly 23 hours per day, Sunday through Friday (5:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT, with a daily maintenance break).
Tim McCourt, Global Head of Equities, FX and Alternative Products at CME Group, highlighted the strategic value: clients increasingly want tools to manage equity price risk with greater precision while benefiting from the capital efficiencies and centralized clearing of a regulated marketplace.
The new futures are designed to make access to the most liquid US stocks simpler and to allow seamless movement between broad market index hedging and targeted single-name positions.
Single stock futures offer several practical advantages over trading the underlying shares directly.
They provide leverage through margin requirements, enabling control of larger positions with less upfront capital.
There are no short-sale restrictions or stock-lending fees, and the nearly round-the-clock trading window allows participants to react quickly to news and events outside regular stock market hours.
Because the contracts are cash-settled, they integrate easily into existing futures and options strategies, including spreads that combine single-stock exposure with broad equity indexes.
The launch comes as CME Group continues to expand its equity derivatives franchise amid record trading volumes.
In 2026, the exchange has reported strong growth in futures and options activity, reflecting sustained institutional and retail interest in efficient ways to express views on individual stocks and manage portfolio risk.
Market participants can access the new contracts through their existing futures brokers. This addition further aims to solidify CME Group’s position as a comprehensive platform for equity risk management, giving traders more granular tools alongside its established suite of index futures and options.
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