Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Sunday, Apr 03, 2005

Investment World
Features
Stocks
Port Info
Archives

Group Sites

Investment World - Derivatives Markets
Markets - Derivatives Markets


Futures guide

Futures: A futures contract is an agreement between two parties to buy or sell an underlying asset at a certain time in the future at a certain price. It has standardised date and month of delivery, quantity and price.

Spot Price: The price at which the underlying asset trades in the spot or cash market.

Futures price: The price at which the futures contract trades in the futures market.

Cost of carry: The difference between futures prices and spot prices is equated by the cost of carry. This measures the storage cost plus the interest that is paid to finance the asset less the income earned on the asset.

Open interest: Open Interest is the number of open contracts in a given maturity contract. A full open interest consists of a long position in combination with short position. It becomes an open contract when it is not closed by a counter position or when it has not expired. One unit of open interest represents always two parties, one buyer (long) and one seller (short).

Contract Value: In the case of Nifty contracts, the value of the contract is equal to the index value multiplied by 200, which is the minimum number of contracts that must be traded. In the case of the Sensex futures, the value of the contract is equal to the index value multiplied by 50, which is the minimum number of contracts that must be traded.

Expiration: The expiration date for all contracts is the last Thursday of the respective month. Three series of futures contracts are available and have one-month, two-months and three-months expiry cycles. On the Friday following the last Thursday, a new contract having a three-month expiry is introduced for trading.

Initial margin: The amount that must be deposited in the margin account at the time a futures contract is first entered into is known as initial margin.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Open offer for ACC: Accept; Buy at lower levels


Oil refining sector: Implications of Aramco's interest
Growth stocks: Steroids for the portfolio
Franklin India Dynamic PE Ratio Fund: Hold
Alliance Capital Tax Relief: Sell
SIP is best when you're in for the long haul
Mutual Funds on dividend spree
Greaves Cotton: Buy
Aarti Industries: Hold
Phillips Carbon: Buy
Short-term outlook turns bullish
Upside ahead of downward trend in Reliance
Focus of the week
Query corner
`Aura' of alloy
Old world charm
Simply simulating
Super Splendor — Big on economy, frugal on style
The `random' conundrum
What is in store for key sectors
Calendar spread and margins in SPAN
Volatile condition may continue in Nifty
Options guide
Futures guide
FD options
`No pot of gold, post quotas' — Mr Anees Noorani, Vice-Chairman and MD, Zodiac Clothing
What's new in the perk package
Second loan in second metro
Shringar Cinemas: Invest at Rs 53
Saksoft: Invest
Gokaldas Exports: Invest at cutoff
ING Vysya Bank: Invest
Five steps to financial freedom
Cartoon


The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription
Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | The Hindu Images | Home |

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line