Current ES, NQ, YM & RTY Futures Prices
The four charts I check before every session. Live prices, the overnight move, and what to actually do with them.
Live charts by TradingView. Exchange licensing doesn't allow embedding CME futures symbols directly, so each chart shows the index's 24-hour CFD feed, which tracks the corresponding futures contract point for point around the clock. No login needed, bookmark and go.
How I Read These Four Before the Open
Anyone can see whether futures are green or red. The useful information is in the relationship between them, and that takes about thirty seconds once you know what to look for.
Which one is leading? If NQ is up 0.9% while ES is up 0.3%, tech is dragging the market higher and the day probably belongs to momentum. If RTY leads, risk appetite is broad and small caps are getting bought, which usually means a healthier trend. If YM leads while NQ lags, money is rotating defensive. The leader tells you what kind of day the market wants to have.
How does the overnight range sit against yesterday? Futures inside yesterday's range points to a balanced, rotational session. Futures gapping outside it means someone repriced overnight, and the first hour will be a fight over whether that reprice was right. My whole pre-market routine is built around answering that one question before 9:30.
Where did the overnight session put its volume? That's beyond a price widget, but it's the natural next step: the levels where the overnight session traded most become the magnets for the regular session. If you want to go deeper, that's exactly what my volume profile guide covers.
The Four Contracts at a Glance
| Contract | Index | Per Point | Tick Value | Micro Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES | S&P 500 | $50 | $12.50 (0.25 pts) | MES ($5/pt) |
| NQ | Nasdaq-100 | $20 | $5.00 (0.25 pts) | MNQ ($2/pt) |
| YM | Dow Jones | $5 | $5.00 (1 pt) | MYM ($0.50/pt) |
| RTY | Russell 2000 | $50 | $5.00 (0.10 pts) | M2K ($5/pt) |
All four trade on CME Globex from Sunday 6:00 PM to Friday 5:00 PM Eastern, with a daily break from 5:00 to 6:00 PM ET. If you're deciding which one deserves your screen time, I've written full comparisons: NQ vs ES for the big two, and MES vs ES if you're weighing the micro route.
Same Percentage, Different Dollars
A 1% move is roughly $3,750 on ES, $6,000 on NQ, $2,200 on YM, and $1,200 on RTY per contract at July 2026 levels. When someone says "futures are up 1%," which contract you're holding decides whether that's lunch money or a mortgage payment. Sizing rules live in my risk management guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are ES, NQ, YM and RTY futures?
They're the four main US index futures contracts. ES tracks the S&P 500, NQ the Nasdaq-100, YM the Dow Jones, and RTY the Russell 2000. All four trade on CME Group exchanges nearly 24 hours a day, which is why traders check them to see where the market is heading before the stock exchanges open.
Why are futures prices different from the index?
Futures price in interest rates and dividends until the contract expires, so they trade at a small premium or discount to the cash index called fair value. The gap is usually modest and shrinks as expiration approaches. Day to day, what matters isn't the gap itself but how futures moved overnight while the cash market was closed.
What time do US index futures trade?
Sunday 6:00 PM to Friday 5:00 PM Eastern, with a daily maintenance break from 5:00 to 6:00 PM ET. Regular trading hours (the cash session) run 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM ET. Everything outside that window is the overnight or premarket session.
Do overnight futures predict the stock market open?
They show where the market will open, not where it will close. If ES is up 0.8% premarket, stocks will open roughly that much higher. But the open is a starting line, not a forecast: gaps fill, overnight moves reverse, and the regular session often disagrees with the overnight one. Treat premarket futures as context, not prophecy.
Want to learn what to do after the open, not just before it?
See Mentorship ProgramsKeep going: Pre-Market Checklist • NQ vs ES • MES vs ES • ES Monthly Stats • Futures Markets Guide • All Free Resources
