Micro Futures: The Complete List and When to Use Them

Micro futures are one tenth the size of their standard contracts. They exist so that a trader with $3,000 can take the same view as a trader with $30,000 — at a tenth of the risk, and at a worse commission ratio.

What "micro" actually means

It is not a separate market. A micro contract tracks the same index, the same barrel of oil, the same ounce of gold. Only the multiplier changes. ES uses $50 per index point; MES uses $5. Same price, same tick size, one tenth the dollars.

Every micro contract on this site

Symbol	Contract	Contract unit	Tick size	Tick value
MES	Micro E-mini S&P 500	$5 x S&P Index	0.25	$1.25
MNQ	Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100	$2 x Nasdaq-100 Index	0.25	$0.5
MYM	Micro E-mini Dow	$0.50 x DJIA Index	1.00	$0.5
M2K	Micro E-mini Russell 2000	$5 x Russell 2000 Index	0.10	$0.5
MCL	Micro WTI Crude Oil	100 barrels	0.01	$1
MGC	Micro Gold	10 oz	0.10/$1.00	$1
MHG	Micro Copper	2,500 lbs	0.0005	$1.25
SIL	E-micro Silver	1,000 oz	0.01	$10
M6E	Micro EUR/USD	12,500 €	0.0001	$1.25
M6A	Micro AUD/USD	10K AUD	0.0001	$1
M6B	Micro GBP/USD	6,250 £	0.0001	$0.625
MCD	Micro CAD/USD	10,000 CAD	0.0001/ $1.00	$1
MJY	Micro JPY/USD	1,250,000 ¥	0.000001	$1.25
MSF	Micro CHF/USD	12,500 CHF	0.0001	$1.25

For the full 135-contract database including full-size and mini contracts, see the specifications table.

Why CME launched them

The micro complex rolled out from 2019 specifically to remove the capital barrier. Before MES, an account under $25,000 could not responsibly trade an S&P future at all — one contract with a sensible stop was too much risk for the account. Micros turned the S&P into something a $3,000 account could size properly.

The three real advantages

1. You can size to your risk instead of to the contract

Risk is stop distance × tick value × contracts. With a $500 risk budget and an 8-tick stop, ES gives you exactly 5 contracts and any mistake in the stop distance is a 20% swing in risk. MES gives you 50 contracts — the same risk with far finer granularity.

2. Drawdowns scale down

A 20-point adverse move costs $1,000 on ES and $100 on MES. For someone learning, that is the difference between a learning experience and a wipeout.

3. You can hold a view while you learn execution

Entry timing, stop placement and management are separate skills from position sizing. Micros let you practise the first three without the fourth killing you.

The two real disadvantages

1. Commission eats a larger share of every tick

This is the big one. A $1.25 tick on MES with a $0.75 round turn leaves $0.50. The same $0.75 on a $12.50 ES tick leaves $11.75. Scalping micros is close to impossible to make profitable after costs.

2. Thinner liquidity outside US hours

ES trades with depth around the clock. MES depth falls away in the Asian session, which means wider spreads and worse fills exactly when a lot of overseas traders are active.

How to choose your size

Decide your dollar risk per trade (typically 1–2% of equity).
Measure your stop distance in ticks from the chart, not from what you hope.
Divide: contracts = risk budget ÷ (stop in ticks × tick value).
If the answer rounds to zero on the full-size contract, use the micro.

A concrete run: $25,000 account, 1% risk = $250. Stop 10 points on the S&P. ES costs 10 × $12.50 = $125 per contract, so 2 ES contracts fit. MES costs $12.50 per contract, so 20 MES fit. Both are valid — ES has better costs, MES has finer control.

Micros are not "safer"

They are smaller. A trader who uses MES as an excuse to take ten times as many positions has the same risk as before, spread across more commission. The contract got smaller; the behaviour did not.

Most-looked-up contracts

Complete list of all 135: futures contract specifications.