The so-called stock index futures is a standardized futures contract with a certain stock index as the underlying asset. The price quoted by buyers and sellers is the stock index price level after a certain period of time. After the contract expires, the stock index futures will be delivered in the form of cash settlement. Therefore, the stock index futures contract is a standardized agreement formulated by the futures exchange and the trading object of the stock index futures market.

Second, the characteristics of stock index futures

1. Intertemporality: Stock index futures refer to a contract in which both parties agree to trade at a certain time in the future under certain conditions by predicting the changing trend of the stock index.

2. Leverage: Stock index futures trading does not need to pay the contract value in full, but only needs to pay a certain percentage of margin to sign a contract with greater value.

3. Linkage: The price of stock index futures is closely related to the change of its underlying asset, the stock index. Stock index is the basic asset of stock index futures, which has a great influence on the price changes of stock index futures.

4. High risk and risk diversity

Because of the high leverage of stock index futures, investors will undoubtedly have to bear high risks. When the index point of futures contract market price falls, investors will suffer losses higher than the index decline.