CME launches 77 single-stock futures for 50+ U.S. stocks

CME Group launched 77 single-stock futures on its Globex platform, covering more than 50 large U.S. companies. The contracts will trade nearly 23 hours a day, five days a week, and settle in cash against each underlying stock’s closing price.

The lineup includes 55 standard futures, each representing 100 shares, and 22 micro contracts that represent 10 shares apiece. Contracts follow a quarterly expiration cycle similar to CME’s equity index futures. Names in the offering include Apple, Nvidia, Tesla, Alphabet, Meta, SpaceX, Micron, Pfizer and Walmart.

CME Group framed the product as a response to client demand for more precise ways to manage equity price risk with capital-efficient instruments. Tim McCourt, CME’s global head of equities, FX and alternative products, described the launch as intended to broaden the exchange’s user base, saying, “Clients want to manage equity price risk with more precision and with the capital efficiencies of a centralized marketplace.” He added the contracts could attract new traders to CME’s ecosystem.

To reach retail investors, CME is working with more than 35 retail intermediary firms to distribute access alongside its institutional channels.

The new single-stock futures run on the same cleared, margin-based infrastructure CME has used for its crypto derivatives business. On May 29 the exchange extended 24/7 trading to bitcoin and ether futures and options, clearing roughly $50 million across more than 7,200 contracts during the debut weekend. Since then CME added crypto index futures tracking bitcoin, solana and XRP and has planned a bitcoin volatility futures product.

Market educators cautioned that near-round-the-clock futures trading can carry liquidity risks. Mat Cashman, principal for investor education at the Options Clearing Corporation, warned that trading outside regular hours, “including during the volatile minutes after companies report earnings, can be choppy.” Futures trading typically involves a commission per contract, unlike many commission-free equity and options platforms.

Single-stock futures have existed in the U.S. before but have faced demand challenges. OneChicago, an exchange once jointly owned by CME, Cboe Global Markets and Interactive Brokers, shut in September 2020 citing thin volumes. On the crypto side, CME’s bitcoin futures open interest fell to $8.41 billion on April 11, a 14-month low, as annualized basis returns compressed from the mid-teens to about 5% and daily volumes dipped below $3 billion.

The rollout runs on CME’s cleared settlement model and offers a leveraged, cash-settled way to take positions in large-cap U.S. stocks without owning the shares.