The Russell 2000 is a stock index that tracks about 2,000 small-capitalization U.S. companies, made up of the smallest 2,000 names in the broader Russell 3000 Index. It’s the benchmark traders reach for when they want a read on smaller domestic businesses rather than the multinationals that dominate the large-cap indices.
Three futures contracts track it: E-mini Russell 2000 futures (RTY), Micro E-mini Russell 2000 futures (M2K), and E-nano Russell 2000 futures (N2K), which CME Group launched in August 2026. Here’s what the index actually measures, who builds it and how, what tends to move it, and how the contracts differ.
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What is the Russell 2000 Index?
The Russell 2000 measures the small-cap segment of the U.S. stock market. Frank Russell Company created it in 1984, and it has been the reference point for U.S. small-cap performance ever since. Where the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 concentrate on the largest companies listed in the U.S., the Russell 2000 picks up what sits below them.
The Russell 2000 measures the small-cap segment of the U.S. stock market.
What “small cap” means here
Small cap is a relative label, not a fixed dollar threshold. It describes companies whose total market value, or market capitalization, is small compared with the rest of the market. In the Russell system, that ranking is recalculated on a set schedule, so the dollar range that counts as small cap shifts as the market does rather than being pinned to a number someone picked years ago.
Where the Russell 2000 sits in the Russell family
The Russell 3000 covers the broad U.S. equity market. Split it by size and you get the large-cap Russell 1000 on top and the Russell 2000 underneath, which is where the small-cap names land. That structure is why the Russell 2000 gets described as the bottom 2,000 of the Russell 3000, and why traders comparing it against the S&P 500 Index are really comparing two different size bands of the same market.
How those 2,000 names get chosen, and how often the list changes, is where the index gets interesting.
How the Russell 2000 is built and rebalanced
The Russell 2000 is maintained by FTSE Russell using a rules-based methodology, with constituents weighted by float-adjusted market capitalization rather than selected by a committee.
The Russell 2000 is maintained by FTSE Russell using a rules-based methodology, with constituents weighted by float-adjusted market capitalization rather than selected by a committee.
A rules-based index, not a committee pick
FTSE Russell, an LSEG business, publishes the index and applies a published set of rules to decide membership. Eligible U.S. companies are ranked by total market capitalization on a set date, and the rules decide where the size breakpoints fall. Nobody votes a company in or out on judgment, which is the main structural difference between the Russell indices and index families that use a selection committee.
Float-adjusted market-cap weighting
Float adjustment means each company’s weight reflects only the shares actually available to trade, not every share issued. Closely held blocks that never reach the market don’t inflate a company’s influence on the index. The larger a company’s investable market value, the more its price movement pulls on the index.
Reconstitution moved to a semiannual schedule in 2026
Reconstitution is the periodic rebuild of the Russell 2000 membership list. For decades, it happened once a year, each June. Beginning in 2026, FTSE Russell reconstitutes the Russell U.S. indices twice a year, in June and December: the June 2026 changes took effect after the U.S. market close on Friday, June 26, and the December 2026 event follows after the close on Friday, December 11. FTSE Russell publishes the full schedule and methodology on its Russell reconstitution page.
What it meansIf you trade Russell 2000 futures, reconstitution is a scheduled event you can plan around rather than a surprise. Volume around those dates can behave differently than it does the rest of the year, because funds tracking the index adjust their holdings to match the new membership list.
Knowing how the index is assembled can explain a lot about how it behaves against its large-cap peers.
Russell 2000 vs. the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100
Because Russell 2000 companies earn most of their revenue inside the U.S., traders often read the index as a gauge of domestic economic conditions, in contrast to the more globally exposed S&P 500.
Because Russell 2000 companies earn most of their revenue inside the U.S., traders often read the index as a gauge of domestic economic conditions, in contrast to the more globally exposed S&P 500.
| Russell 2000 | S&P 500 | Nasdaq 100 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it measures | Small-cap U.S. companies | Large-cap U.S. companies | The largest non-financial companies listed on Nasdaq |
| Approximate constituents | About 2,000 | 500 | 100 |
| Typical revenue exposure | Mostly domestic | Global | Global |
| How traders often read it | A gauge of U.S. domestic conditions | A gauge of large-cap U.S. corporate health | A gauge of large-cap technology and growth |
Domestic revenue versus global revenue
A company in the S&P 500 may earn a large share of its revenue abroad, so a weaker U.S. dollar (USD) or a slowdown overseas may show up in its results. Smaller companies are more likely to sell into their own market, borrow from domestic lenders, and hire domestically. That difference in exposure is the reason the two indices can move apart even on the same trading day.
Why small caps get read as an economic signal
Traders watching for a shift in U.S. conditions often watch the Russell 2000 alongside the large-cap indices, because smaller companies tend to feel domestic changes sooner. That doesn’t make the index a forecast. It can help you frame what the market is reacting to, which is a different thing from telling you what happens next. Traders who follow several of these benchmarks at once often trade equity index futures across more than one index for exactly that reason.
So what actually pushes the index around day to day?
What moves the Russell 2000
No single input drives a 2,000-company index like the Russell 2000, but a few show up often enough to be worth understanding before you trade it.
No single input drives a 2,000-company index like the Russell 2000, but a few show up often enough to be worth understanding before you trade it.
Interest rates and credit conditions
Smaller companies tend to carry more floating-rate debt and have fewer financing options than large multinationals, so the cost and availability of borrowing matters more to them. When credit conditions tighten, that pressure can show up in small caps before it shows up further up the size scale. If you’re trading the index with leverage, the same sensitivity is worth understanding alongside how margin in futures trading works on your own position.
Domestic growth data
U.S. employment, consumer spending, and manufacturing releases land on a published calendar, and index futures often react to them within seconds. Because the Russell 2000’s constituents are weighted toward domestic revenue, domestic data can move it differently than it moves the large-cap indices on the same release.
Sector composition
The Russell 2000’s sector mix is not the same as the S&P 500’s, and it changes as companies enter and leave at reconstitution. A sector that carries real weight in one index may barely register in the other, so a sector-specific story can move one benchmark and leave the other largely alone.
What it meansReading the Russell 2000 as a smaller version of the S&P 500 leaves out most of what makes it move. The two indices answer different questions about the same economy.
How traders track the Russell 2000: RTY, M2K, and N2K futures
Traders access the Russell 2000 through three cash-settled futures contracts on CME Globex: E-mini Russell 2000 futures (RTY) at $50 per index point, Micro E-mini Russell 2000 futures (M2K) at one-tenth that size, and E-nano Russell 2000 futures (N2K) at one-tenth of M2K.
Traders access the Russell 2000 through three cash-settled futures contracts on CME Globex: E-mini Russell 2000 futures (RTY) at $50 per index point, Micro E-mini Russell 2000 futures (M2K) at one-tenth that size, and E-nano Russell 2000 futures (N2K) at one-tenth of M2K.
| Contract spec | RTY | M2K | N2K |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract point value | $50 x Russell 2000 Index | $5 x Russell 2000 Index | $0.50 x Russell 2000 Index |
| Minimum price fluctuation | 0.1 index points ($5.00 per contract) | 0.1 index points ($0.50 per contract) | 0.2 index points ($0.10 per contract) |
| Exchange | CME Globex | CME Globex | CME Globex |
| Contract months | Quarterly: March, June, September, December | Quarterly: March, June, September, December | Quarterly: March, June, September, December (nearest two listed) |
| Expiration | Third Friday of the listed contract month | Third Friday of the listed contract month | Third Friday of the listed contract month |
| Settlement | Financially settled | Financially settled | Financially settled |
| Trading hours | Sunday 6:00 p.m. ET to Friday 5:00 p.m. ET | Sunday 6:00 p.m. ET to Friday 5:00 p.m. ET | Sunday 6:00 p.m. ET to Friday 5:00 p.m. ET |
What cash settlement means here
All three contracts are financially settled, so no basket of 2,000 stocks changes hands at expiration. The position settles in cash against the index value, which is why an index futures contract can track a benchmark that would be impractical to deliver.
Choosing between RTY, M2K, and N2K
The three contracts track the same index and trade the same hours. What separates them is size: a one-point move is $50 in RTY and $5 in M2K, which changes how much a single contract moves your account. If you’re weighing micro and mini contract sizes for the first time, it’s worth working through which contract size fits your account before you place a trade.
N2K takes the same step down again, at $0.50 per point, though its tick is 0.2 index points rather than 0.1, so a single tick is worth $0.10.
What it meansRTY and M2K share a tick size, so the micro isn’t a coarser instrument, just a tenth of the dollar exposure per point. N2K is the exception: its tick is twice as wide, so one N2K tick is worth $0.10 against M2K’s $0.50. That’s a fifth, where the contract size alone would suggest a tenth. Check the tick value of the contract you’re actually trading before you size a position.
Knowing the multiplier, the tick, and the trading hours can help you size a position deliberately rather than by default.
Trade the Russell 2000 with NinjaTrader
NinjaTrader offers both E-mini Russell 2000 and Micro E-mini Russell 2000 futures, with charting, order entry, and the analysis tools to trade them in a live account. Ready to get started? Open a NinjaTrader account today.
FAQs on the Russell 2000 Index
What is the Russell 2000?
The Russell 2000 is a stock index that tracks about 2,000 small-capitalization U.S. companies, made up of the smallest 2,000 names in the broader Russell 3000 Index. The Russell 2000 is the most widely followed benchmark for U.S. small-cap stocks.
How many companies are in the Russell 2000?
About 2,000 companies are in the Russell 2000. The exact count varies slightly between reconstitutions as companies are added, removed, or move between the Russell 1000 and the Russell 2000.
Who maintains the Russell 2000?
FTSE Russell, an LSEG business, publishes and maintains the Russell 2000 Index. Membership follows a published, rules-based methodology rather than a selection committee, and the constituent list is rebuilt on a set schedule.
What is the difference between the Russell 2000 and the S&P 500?
The Russell 2000 tracks about 2,000 small-cap U.S. companies; the S&P 500 tracks 500 large-cap U.S. companies. Russell 2000 constituents tend to earn most of their revenue domestically, while S&P 500 constituents are more globally exposed, so the two indices can move differently on the same news.
What is the ticker for Russell 2000 futures?
RTY is the symbol for E-mini Russell 2000 futures, M2K is the symbol for Micro E-mini Russell 2000 futures, and N2K is the symbol for E-nano Russell 2000 futures. All three trade on CME Globex and are financially settled.
