The essence of stock index futures trading is the process that investors transfer their expected risk of the whole stock market price index to the futures market, and offset the risk of the stock market by judging the stock trend of different investors. Because the object of stock index futures trading is the stock index, the change of stock index is the standard, and cash settlement is the only settlement method. There are no real stocks on both sides of the transaction, only stock index futures contracts are traded.
Trading rules:
1, transaction unit
In stock index futures trading, the trading unit of the contract is expressed by the product of a certain amount of money and the underlying index. In addition, this amount is determined by the contract. Therefore, the futures market only quotes through the points of the underlying index of each contract. For example, the main market index futures contract listed on CBOT stipulates that the trading unit is the product of $250 and the main market index. Therefore, if the main market indexes in the futures market are quoted at 465,438+00 points, it means that the value of a contract is 65,438+002,500 dollars. If the index of major markets rises by 20 points, it means that the value of a contract has increased by 5000 dollars.
2. The lowest price change
The minimum change price of stock index futures (that is, a scale) is usually expressed by an index point. Such as s& etc.; The minimum change price of P500 index futures is 0.05 index points. Because the value of each index point is $500, the minimum price change is $25 for each contract, which means that the minimum price change in the transaction is $25 for each contract.
3. Daily price fluctuation limit
Since the stock market crash in June 5438+0987+00, most exchanges have stipulated daily price fluctuation limits for their listed stock index futures contracts, but the regulations of each exchange are different. This difference lies not only in the scope of restriction, but also in the way of restriction. At the same time, tribal tigers often limit daily price fluctuations according to specific circumstances.
4. Settlement method
Cash settlement is an important feature that distinguishes stock index futures trading from other futures trading. Under the cash settlement method, each open contract will be automatically cancelled on the maturity date. In other words, traders compare the contract value at the time of transaction and settlement, calculate the profit and loss, and make cash settlement.
Main functions of stock index futures trading
Generally speaking, futures trading has two functions: one is price discovery function, and the other is hedging function. As a kind of financial futures, index futures also have these two functions.
The so-called price discovery function refers to the use of trading systems such as open bidding in the futures market to form market prices that reflect the relationship between market supply and demand. Specifically, the price of the index futures market can make an expected response to the future trend of the stock market. Together with the stock indexes in the spot market, * * * can make an expectation on the macro-economy of the country and the operating conditions of specific listed companies. In this sense, stock index futures play a signal role in the allocation and flow of economic resources, which can improve the allocation efficiency of resources.
Hedging function refers to investors buying or selling futures contracts with the same spot quantity and opposite trading direction, in order to compensate the actual losses caused by price changes in the spot market by selling or buying futures contracts at some future time. This hedging function of stock index futures will enrich the investment tools of stock market participants, drive or promote the active trading in the stock spot market, reduce the panic impact of centralized selling on the stock market, and buffer the sharp fluctuation of the average stock price level.
The introduction of China's stock index futures has promoted the prices of 300 constituent stocks in Shanghai and Shenzhen. Due to the short-selling mechanism, some institutional investors who have not set foot in the stock market on a large scale before, such as insurance companies and social security funds, will use stock index futures for hedging. After they get involved in the stock market, they will push the stock price up. For small retail investors, stock index futures have capital restrictions per share and can only aim at opportunities to impact constituent stocks. Stock index futures play an important role in finding stock prices and stabilizing the market. Shareholders are unlikely to bear the stock market crash and thus suffer losses.