Trade Equity Index Futures Contracts
Why Futures are a Preferred Choice for Traders
An equity index is a tradable group of stocks where the price of the index is determined by the combined price of all the components. Now more stock traders add equity index futures (S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Dow 30 and Russell 2000 index futures) to their trading portfolios.
Also referred to as stock index futures, traders buy and sell equity index futures whenever opportunities arise. The many key advantages of trading futures vs. stocks including increased leverage, 24-hour trading, unrestricted shorting, tax advantages, and trading on a level playing field.
Trade Stock Market Action With Equity Index Futures
E-mini S&P 500 Index Futures
The E-mini S&P 500 index futures contract is a derivative of the S&P 500 index which is made up of the 500 largest market-capitalized companies listed on US stock exchanges.
E-mini Nasdaq 100 Index Futures
The E-mini Nasdaq 100 is a stock market index futures that represents 100 of the largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, which is heavily weighted toward the technology sector.
E-mini Dow 30 Index Futures
Based on the Dow 30 stock index, also known as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, E-mini Dow index futures track the price of 30 of the largest companies in the US, representing a wide range of business sectors.
E-mini Russell 2000 Index Futures
Based on a subset of the Russell 3000 index, which tracks the 3,000 largest US traded stocks, E-mini Russell 2000 index futures are a popular measure of small stock performance and US economic growth.

Trade Micro E-mini Index Futures For Increased Flexibility and Reduced Costs
At 1/10th the size of the standard contract, Micro E-mini futures contracts allow traders like you to more easily access the highly liquid equity index futures markets with reduced costs and margins as low as $50. Other advantages of trading these bite-sized contracts include:
- Access to the most popular and liquid futures contracts
- Highly leveraged investment for more buying power*
- Start with a smaller account vs. the full-size E-mini contract
- Increased flexibility for better position management
*Leverage also increases the risk associated with futures trading and only risk capital should be used for trading

Global Futures Markets at Your Fingertips
Futures trading encompasses a wide range of globally traded products that allow traders at all levels to speculate on the price of these dynamic markets. There are many diverse futures markets to explore, including:
- Energy like crude oil and natural gas
- Metals like gold and copper
- Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and ethereum
- Agriculture like coffee and cotton
Why Over 1.5 Million Users Choose NinjaTrader

Award-Winning Futures Brokerage
High-performance platform. 100+ futures tools. Pro-level charts. Unlimited simulated trading.

Discount Futures Trading Pricing
No account minimum. Margins as low as $50 and commissions as low as $.09 per contract.

Trade How You Want, Where You Want
Our cloud-based infrastructure empowers you to trade futures across all your devices.

First-Class Support And Futures Education
Free 24-hour emergency trade desk. Daily webinars. 100s of on-demand training videos.

What Does It Cost To Get Started?
It's easy to get started with your futures trading account!
- Futures trading generally has a lower initial account opening capital requirement than stock trading.
- With stocks, there are day trading rules that require a trader to maintain minimum account balance of $25,000 which can be a high bar for new traders. Futures do not have a day trading capital requirement.
- There is no funding minimum requirement to get started with NinjaTrader. You can open your account with as little as a few hundred dollars and start trading any of the available Micro futures contracts.

Powerful Tools for New and Active Futures Traders
As a leading futures broker, NinjaTrader offers a wide array of additional tools and services to support your futures trading:
- Unlimited simulated futures trading
- Unfiltered professional market data
- Extensive historical tick, min and daily data
- Free 24-hour emergency trade desk
- Award-winning charting and analysis tools
- 1,000s of third-party trading apps
- Unlimited support and daily training

Paper Trade Futures 100% Risk-Free with Unlimited Simulated Trading
Practice makes perfect - our trading simulator will empower you to join the live futures market with confidence.
- No minimum funding requirement to open your account
- FREE platform included - 100+ trading tools and professional futures market data
- High-performance backtesting engine to fine-tune automated trading strategies
- The ability to test new trading ideas in a risk-free trading simulator before putting money at risk
Best Brokerage for Trading Futures

NinjaTrader is recognized for our unique combination of a high-performance trading platform, discount pricing, and real-time support.
Download NinjaTrader's award-winning software for FREE and see why it's consistently voted an industry leader by the trading community. NinjaTrader is always free to use for advanced charting, backtesting and trade simulation.