• Index futures are contracts to buy or sell a financial index at a set price today and settle on a date in the future.

  • These contracts were originally intended exclusively for institutional investors, but are now open to everyone.
  • Portfolio managers use index futures to hedge their stock positions against stock losses.
  • Speculators can also use index futures to bet on the direction of the market.
  • Some of the most popular index futures are stock based, including the E-mini S&P 500, E-mini Nasdaq-100 and E-mini Dow. International markets also have index futures.