> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.daytraderincome.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # What is NQ? Trading Nasdaq-100 futures - URL: https://www.daytraderincome.com/what-is-nq/ - Published: 2026-09-19T16:56:55.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-22T22:13:10.000Z - Description: NQ is the E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures contract — one of the most-watched intraday charts in the world. Here's what it tracks, the contract mechanics, why it moves, and why I trade it. - Author: Indy Karveli - Tags: The setup, #Import 2026-10-08 14:50, #Import 2026-10-10 11:04 NQ is the ticker for the E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures contract — one of the most actively traded and closely watched index futures in the world. When day traders talk about "trading NQ," they mean speculating on the intraday direction of the Nasdaq-100, the index of the 100 largest non-financial companies on the Nasdaq, heavily weighted toward technology and growth names. It's the instrument I trade, so this is the one I know cold. ## What NQ tracks The Nasdaq-100 is dominated by the big technology and growth companies — the kind of names that drive the AI and tech narrative. Because it excludes financials and leans so heavily into tech, NQ often moves differently from the broader market or the Dow, and it tends to be more volatile than the S&P 500 equivalent (ES). That volatility is exactly why active day traders like it: more movement within a session means more opportunity for an intraday strategy — and more risk, which is the trade-off. **DTI** Contract mathTicks, points and dollars on Nasdaq futures 1 point = 4 ticks of 0.250.250.250.250.25\= 1.00 pointWorth on one contractper tickper point20-pt moveMNQ$0.50$2$40NQ$5$20$400A 20-point stop, in dollars1 MNQ: $401 NQ: $4001 point = 4 ticks of 0.250.250.250.250.25\= 1.00 pointWorth on one contractper tickper point20-pt moveMNQ$0.50$2$40NQ$5$20$400A 20-point stop, in dollars1 MNQ: $401 NQ: $400Ten MNQ = one NQ in dollars. Contract values per CME specs: NQ is $20 per index point and MNQ is $2\. Ten MNQ contracts move the same dollars as one NQ. ## The contract mechanics The essential numbers, which are fixed features of the contract: - **Each full point of the Nasdaq-100 index is worth $20** per NQ contract. - **The minimum price movement (a tick) is 0.25 index points, worth $5.** - So a 10-point move equals $200 per contract; a 1-point move equals $20, or four ticks. - It trades on CME Globex nearly 24 hours a day, five days a week, with a brief daily maintenance break. - It's cash-settled — no physical delivery of anything, ever. These point and tick values don't change; they're built into the contract. What does change is the index level (and therefore the contract's total notional value) and the margin your broker requires, so check those current before trading. ## Why NQ moves the way it does NQ reacts fast to anything affecting big tech and the broader economy: economic data releases, Federal Reserve policy, and especially earnings from the largest index components. When a mega-cap tech company reports, NQ can move sharply. Active traders watch the economic calendar and earnings schedule precisely because these events drive the volatility they're trading around. The index moving quickly in both index-point and dollar terms is what makes it a day trader's instrument — and what makes matching your position size to your account essential. ## NQ vs MNQ NQ is the full-size E-mini. MNQ — the Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 — is exactly one-tenth the size: $2 per point instead of $20, $0.50 per tick instead of $5\. Ten MNQ contracts equal one NQ. For most retail traders, and for controlling risk, MNQ is the right starting point, because it lets you trade the same chart and the same setup at one-tenth the dollar risk. [Micro futures explained](https://www.daytraderincome.com/micro-futures-explained/) covers this in full. ## Why I trade NQ specifically Liquidity, movement, and hours. NQ is deeply liquid, so my fills land close to where I expect — which keeps slippage, the invisible cost, small. It moves enough within a session for my setup to have something to work with. And it trades nearly around the clock, so I can trade the window that suits me. One market, learned deeply, traded the same way every session. Every one of those sessions is on the [record](https://www.daytraderincome.com/the-record/), in points — and since NQ's point value is fixed and public, anyone can convert those points to their own dollar figure at whatever contract size they trade. **Notice.** Nothing here is financial, investment or tax advice, or a recommendation to trade. Contract specifications can change; verify current specs, margins and rules with your broker and the exchange. Trading futures carries a substantial risk of loss and most people who attempt day trading lose money. [Full disclosures](https://www.daytraderincome.com/privacy/).