Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Sunday, Jul 11, 2004

Investment World
Features
Stocks
Port Info
Archives

Group Sites

Investment World - Derivatives Markets
Markets - Derivatives Markets


Futures guide

Futures: A futures contract is an agreement between two parties to buy or sell an underlying asset at a certain time in the future at a certain price. It has standardised date and month of delivery, quantity and price.

Spot Price: The price at which the underlying asset trades in the spot or cash market.

Futures price: The price at which the futures contract trades in the futures market.

Cost of carry: The difference between futures prices and spot prices is equated by the cost of carry. This measures the storage cost plus the interest that is paid to finance the asset less the income earned on the asset.

Open interest: Open Interest is the number of open contracts in a given maturity contract. A full open interest consists of a long position in combination with short position. It becomes an open contract when it is not closed by a counter position or when it has not expired. One unit of open interest represents always two parties, one buyer (long) and one seller (short).

Contract Value: In the case of Nifty contracts, the value of the contract is equal to the index value multiplied by 200, which is the minimum number of contracts that must be traded. In the case of the Sensex futures, the value of the contract is equal to the index value multiplied by 50, which is the minimum number of contracts that must be traded.

Expiration: The expiration date for all contracts is the last Thursday of the respective month. Three series of futures contracts are available and have one-month, two-months and three-months expiry cycles. On the Friday following the last Thursday, a new contract having a three-month expiry is introduced for trading.

Initial margin: The amount that must be deposited in the margin account at the time a futures contract is first entered into is known as initial margin.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Investment Quiz


TRAI's consumer friendly measure
Question 'n' Auto
Budget proposals — Managing investments made easy
Budget, revenues and profit growth
Beyond tax breaks on capital gains
Budget: A delicate balancing act
Let's walk the Budget
Reforms on track
Constant inflation index notification
Kotak Global India Fund: Hold
Budget and mutual fund investments — How to rejig your strategy
UTI Software Fund
Fidelity Fund gets SEBI nod
Mahindra & Mahindra: Long-term buy
Satyam Computers: Buy
Mico: Buy
Alfa Laval: Buy
Swaraj Engines: Hold
Nilkamal Plastics: Hold
India Cements: Hold
Budget and you — The road ahead for the taxpayer
Search for infrastructure investment to make the cap
Scalping the scalpers
Near-term outlook remains weak
Pivotals waiting for a breakout
Focus of the week
Query Corner
SBI Life Money Back Plan
A post-Budget view
Negative outlook for Nifty
Check your cost now
Do the derivatives
Options guide
Futures guide
Budget of Bonds and Rates
HDFC: Take cover under it
`India can make steel much cheaper than China'
Fly Delhi-Mumbai at Rs 500
Greenmail is a form of blackmail
Sumo Victa from Tata Motors
SBI Life's Money Back Plan
Maruti Udyog's new look Esteem


The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription
Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line